Growing old
by Zaxarus
Summary: ON HIATUS - He survived them all - Ciri, Triss and even Yennefer. The world changed around him and it was time to leave. Now, everything was new to him. New friends, new enemies and a world he didn't understand. It's time for Geralt to decide if he wants to go on or if he succumbs to his grief - the grief of growing old, the grief of the survivor. Post Witcher 3/Start ME 1 Xover.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**_

 _Post-Witcher-3/Start-Mass Effect-1 Crossover, takes place 100+ years after the events of Witcher 3, protagonist is a drunken and slightly depressed Geralt. Not completely serious. Borrowings from other games as well._

.

 _ **Citadel – near Chora's Den**_

.

None of his late friends would have recognized the man who was dragging his feet down the pavement, one hand on the banister for support. He was a human, mostly. A DNA check would have told more but to a casual observer only his eyes would have betrayed the difference. They were slit like those of a cat, yellow and bloodshot because of a lack of sleep and a surplus of alcohol. The hair was white, unkempt and long and certainly hadn't been washed for two weeks at least. The rest of the body, while obviously quite fit and in shape, wasn't any better cared for. He actually stunk of alcohol, old sweat and other things better not mentioned. The black leather suit was old and well-used, stains of old meals, dirt and oil covering it as well as quite some dried blood, not all of it his own. He wore no obvious weapons and normally the silver chain around his neck alone would have made him a tempting target to some mugger, but the lowlife around here had already learned the hard way to better leave him alone. Only the lucky ones got to see C-Sec after a fight with him.

Geralt was a happy drunk right now. He had just spent the evening in his favourite watering hole, watching barely clad Asari dancers while proving that he was still able to outdrink a Turian general any day of the week. Septimus was a good lad for a Turian. Nope, cancel that. Septimus was a good lad full stop. A bit winy, especially these days. _Sha'ira this and Sha'ira that, next time Septimus mentions her name I'll puke on his shoes_. Septimus was a lovey-dovey Turian and Geralt hated it. He leant against the wall, using the moment of rest to think about it. If he remembered correctly he had puked onto the general's shoes – not that the Turian noticed or cared.

Sha'ira certainly was a stunning beautiful woman. The Asari Consort was famous all over the Citadel, both for her talents and her … assets. And what a kind of assets she had, Geralt nodded to himself. She certainly was one of the most beautiful and charismatic Asari he ever met, meaning something with most Asari being beautiful and charismatic to begin with. Those swaying hips were something every warm-blooded male could dream about – and some cold-blooded certainly too. He bet there was at least one Sha'ira's-swaying-hips-fan-club out there. She only had two faults in his eyes: she knew about her effect on others; and she made Septimus cry. Nobody should be allowed to make a Turian General cry, drunk or not. It wasn't meant to be. It simply wasn't. There certainly was a law against it. Not some silly communal law but a galactic one. He burped loudly, feeling better now. Still, she was alright and he actually liked her. Sha'ira had been helpful in the weeks after his sudden arrival in this creepy world and since then he had done his best to repay her kindness.

More than a little tipsy, Geralt walked ahead, using the whole breadth of the corridor and sometimes even more, the studs from his black leather jacket leaving deep scratches in the walls now and then. They weren't the first ones and wouldn't stay the last. Chora's Den had been even better before Fist somehow convinced the former proprietor to sell the bar. The takeover had been a surprise and Geralt hated surprises. Previously, there had been dancers from other races as well, not only Asari, and Saturday night was for live music or some kind of show. Reminded him of old times, reminded him of Dandelion. Fuck, did he miss his old friend. He had been dead for more than fifty years now and Geralt could still hear his voice, remember his stories. His wife Priscilla had been heartbroken at the funeral. Geralt had never seen so many crying elderly women in one place. Yes, Chora's Den had been a little like that before Fist made his unwelcome appearance. And the drinks were better, less watered down. The clientele had changed as well. Now there were more thugs and other shadowy elements of Citadel's lower society where the hard-working people had formerly parted with their hard-earned money to forget about their plight for a few hours. He liked sturdy crafters and honest workers. They tended to lie less and to leave him alone. And sometimes they were good for a round of hard drinks and a decent fight, not always in that order. Gods had that Krogan construction worker thrown a mean punch. And he had been one of the few who were able to outdrink him despite his Witcher endurance.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he hit a stack of crates with his shoulder. Something chinked in his pocket and there was something wet running down his trousers. "Fuck!" He searched his pocket and found a whiskey bottle, empty and broken now. "Fuck!" He repeated somewhat louder. Gone was his night cap. He had paid good money for that bottle. Or he would next time, as Jenna had chalked up his drinks as usual. Geralt was always one night behind in paying his beer mat, but so far, his check had always been good. And the tip Jenna got every time certainly didn't hurt. He cackled loudly.

"Shut up and bugger off!" Someone ordered him.

Geralt looked up and tried to focus his sight. A couple of steps ahead, the corridor broadened into a small square, perhaps ten yards across. A dozen crates were lying around, probably some junk from the near market. With the speaker invisible to him for now, Geralt started to stagger around searching for him. Crashing against some other stacks of garbage, distributing them on the floor, he came face to face with the so far invisible speaker. "Oh, there you are," he grinned happily. Some Turian was standing there, hiding behind some crates. Geralt liked Turian, even more so than Asari. He even had a couple of friends among them. They were soldiers at heart and less prone to babbling than Asari. Still both were better than Salarians. Those had the bad habit of giving him a headache with their fast and weird kind of speech.

"I said bugger off," the Turian demanded. This one certainly wasn't of the friendly type. His voice was this kind of whisper-shout people used if they tried to be forceful while keeping their voice low.

Geralt swaggered a little and put his hand on a crate to stay upright. "Whadda … whadda u're doin'gg there?" He slurred heavily. "Ta'aging a pissh?"

"If you don't…" The Turian hissed.

"Hello?" A feminine voice interrupted them. The voice was slightly fearful and immediately addressed Geralt's "big-brother-side", the one that more than once brought him trouble in the past.

Geralt turned around, nearly losing his stance doing so. For a moment there was a hint of red hair, green eyes and a welcoming smile. This couldn't be. Geralt shook his head and tried to focus on reality. The sight changed, but the feeling of affection stayed. He saw a woman, a young one according to her voice. No that there was all too much to see of her, as she was clad head to toe into some kind of space suit. But her chest betrayed her gender and she had the broad hips all Quarian women shared. He liked Quarians. He liked Quarian women. And especially he liked watching Quarian women from behind. "What can I do for you, my beautiful flower?" He mumbled, struggling to speak clearly. He didn't approach her for now. Even in his befuddled mind he remembered that women tended to shy away from drunk men. He didn't want to frighten her.

"You're drunk." She stated accusingly.

"Yes," he nodded, grinning broadly as if she had complimented him. She sounded angry, not fearful. That was good, wasn't it? Angry meant slaps and not walking away. He could handle slaps.

"Do you belong to Fist?" She haltingly asked.

"Nope." He shook his head a few times, his vision getting a little slurry from the motion. Geralt felt a little insulted. Fist wasn't someone he ever would be willing to work for. "Don't work for bastards," he mumbled.

"We belong to Fist," the Turian left his hideout and pushed Geralt aside. "You're Miss Zorah?"

"Yes, I'm Tali Zorah nar Rayya."

"Tali is a nice name," Geralt tossed in. He swaggered a little. "Nar Rayya …" He tipped his nose looking thoughtful, squinting a little as he did so. "That means you were born on the ship Rayya, right?" Tali blinked, not that anybody was able to see it. Not many aliens knew about Quarian name rules – or cared to learn.

"I said shut up," the Turian bellowed, fast losing his patience. In between two other Turians appeared on the scene and started to surround the Quarian.

"And you, Sir, are not very nice," Geralt said slowly, trying to pronounce it correctly. He turned towards Tali again. The Quarian was a bit confused by his presence and was uncertain how to handle the situation. She wasn't prepared for this third party. "It'sch the shame with my own name," he slurred. "I'm Geralt of Rivia. Rivia, there I've been born."

If Turians were prone to apoplexies, then the first Turian was fast approaching that stat. "Ignore him," one of the other Turians interjected. "We have a job to do."

"Right," agreed the first one. "Do you have the information you promised."

"I do," Tali declared, glancing towards this weird human. "And where is my money? Where is Fist?" She was feeling trapped, with those other Turians shutting off any escape route. She had no weapon, only her Omni tool, as C-Sec didn't allow Quarians to run around the Citadel armed.

"Ups," the Turian mocked her. "I knew I forgot something." An alarm bell started to sound in Geralt's head.

"No money, no information," Tali tried to sound more confident than she felt. Suddenly the Turian had a gun in his hand, the other two drawing weapons as well.

"Stop right there, little bird. You'll deliver the package to us right now. Be a nice sweetie, and we promise that we won't rape you before we kill you." All humour had left his voice and Tali quivered in her shoes, both in fear and in rage. This wasn't how it was meant to happen. Fist had promised her money, enough money for her to buy some things the Flotilla needed, perhaps even a small ship, and to leave behind this shithole. She had no idea why the information was this precious to him, but until now she had hoped he would keep his word. She should have known better. It simply sounded too good.

Before she had a chance to react to the threat, a hand grabbed the Turian's wrist and whirled the arm around. With surprising force, Geralt pushed the Turian against a staple of crates, the pain in his twisted arm making the thug let go of his weapon. "You don't threaten a lady like this," Geralt say slowly and halfway clearly. Anger was rolling through his veins, burning away the alcohol. Hurting children and raping women were at the top of the list he hated the most. Threatening to do either was a sure way to get him into your face.

"You just made a serious error," one of the other two Turians announced and lifted his gun. Tali reacted just in time to shove the gun aside, the slugs hammering into the ground instead of the human they were aimed for. However, she had no chance to prevent the other Turian from opening fire. His SMG coughed as he pressed the trigger and at least three bullets hit Geralt – or at least they would have without the shield that suddenly surrounded him. Tali knew enough about kinetic shields to detect that this one wasn't a normal one, but she had no time to ponder the riddle right now.

"You bitch," the Turian whose gun Tali had forced aside, aimed at her. She dodged the attack, mostly. One bullet drilled a hole through her armour and grazed her hip, another smashed right through her thigh. With a scream of pain, she went down in a heap. Her suit instantly tried to take care of the injuries, administering Medigel and Antibiotics, but she knew that this wouldn't be enough.

With an angry roar, Geralt rushed towards her attacker, his steps still a little unsteady, the hands lifted like he wanted to strangle the Turian. His opponent lifted his gun again and just wanted to say something funny – funny to his ears at least – as a powerful telekinetic push whirled him back and smashed him against the wall. There was an ugly crack to be heard and as the Turian felt to the ground his neck was at an unhealthy angle.

The other Turian aimed for Geralt, a little shocked by the display of something he assumed to be biotic in nature, while the first one still struggled to get up between the crates. Geralt sighed. This night just turned out far more exciting than he cared for.

.

 _ **A wee bit later**_

"Are you a biotic?" Tali asked Geralt a few minutes later. Together they had put down the other two Turians – well, Geralt had mostly done it – and after a bit of first aid and the realization that the Quarian needed a real doctor and not some half-assed medigel, they had left the place, not without getting Tali a shiny new pistol and enough heat sinks to last for a while. Now, he was carrying her towards a destination unknown to her. He had downed something to nullify the alcohol in his blood, not without cursing about all the good money he had squandered on those drinks. His steps steady now, he apparently had no problems with carrying her around, despite her wearing a jump suit and equipment. While they got quite a few stares, nobody stopped them or asked why a human was carrying around a Quarian bride style.

"Something like that," Geralt mumbled.

Tal frowned behind her mask. What did he mean by that? "Where are you carrying me?" Her head rolled back and forth. She felt a fever coming, the infect searing her internals.

"Dr Michel," he took a turn to the left. They were already near his destination. "She's a friend of mine and has a clinic over there."

Tali turned her head and really saw the sign of a small medical clinic. Geralt pushed against the door. It was closed, no surprise at this hour. Kicking the emergency button with his heel, he called for his friend who answered with her voice a little sleep-drunken. "Open up, Chloe. I've an emergency on my hands."

"What do you mean on your hands?"

"Open up, help now, questions later." The door beeped and Geralt was able to push it open. The clinic was quite small. As far as he knew it was only Chloe and a single nurse working here. The nurse lived somewhere else, but Chloe had her tiny room above the clinic. They had mostly ambulant cases as her usual patients simply lacked the funds to pay for longer care. There were only three tiny double bedrooms and a surgery not much bigger. Geralt knew the surgery well enough, had been there as a patient a couple of times since he arrived at the Citadel three years ago.

"Quarian woman, suit pierced, two gunshot wounds, one grazing the hip the other straight through her right thigh. Medigel applicated and a strong antibiotic from the suit." Tali was stunned because the professionalism the drunkard showed right now, but the pain soon forced her to concentrate on the wounds again.

"Got it," Dr Michel replied and went to work. She had a patient to take care of.

.

 _ **Deserted Alley near Chora's Den**_

.

"Three dead Turians, Sir," Kaidan Alenko summarized the result of his hasty investigation. "One killed by biotics, one got a couple of bullets into his face and the last one had his neck broken by hand."

"Any hints of who paid the attackers or what happened to the Quarian?" The day really turned from bad to worse. After his return from Eden Prime, his head still hurting from the contact with the Prothean Beacon and his heart heavy because of Jenkins' death, they had some trouble to convince the council of what had really happened. Not that they had been surprised by the council's reaction. They didn't believe in Saren's guilt, their lapdog was above reproach. The dock worker wasn't good enough testimony and the second witness, a researcher with PTSD, was barely able to put three sentences together. Why had Nihlus to be so stupid?

At least, the remains of a dozen Geth had been enough proof of the attack taking place and the identity of the attackers. They delivered the defused bombs to some C-Sec officer Garrus Vakarian to check for any hints about their origin and started to look around for anything that could help them convince the Council. Not that he had much hope. The Prothean beacon itself was only scraps now. Luckily, Anderson had been adamant to keep mum about Shepard's vision. The council would certainly only believe him to be a nutcase.

Garrus had already been helpful with their investigation, naming as a possible mine of information one Volus Barla Von who supposedly was an operative of the Shadow Broker. Perhaps an information dealer would turn out helpful with their investigation. And he really had something to tell:

" _Saren has been dealing with the Shadow Broker in the past. His handler has been a gang boss called Fist. He owns Chora's Den in the Districts. I should say he had been dealing as he betrayed my boss, and convinced Fist to do the same. I don't know what it is about, but it has to be something really big to take such a risk. The Shadow Broker isn't amused and sent someone to take care of it, both Saren and Fist. Perhaps he knows more useful things. His name is Wrex, Urdnot Wrex, a Krogan from Tuchanka."_

It had been easy to find Wrex. They found him with some C-Sec officers surrounding the Krogan, trying to hide their fear while convincing him to keep away from Fist. Garrus defused the situation, not amused that his comrades were willing to follow Fist's wishes, the gang boss accusing the Krogan of threatening him. Luckily, Garrus had enough pull to get Wrex free and place him under Shepard's care. This brought his squad strength to four – five if he counted Garrus who stayed at C-Sec for now.

Their presence right at this place however had a different reason. Barla Von delivered more news, free of charge and as a little thank you for helping Wrex, this time about a rumour he had heard from a mole in Fist's organization. It was about a Quarian willing to sell something to Fist, something very important about Saren apparently. Barla Von guessed the arranged location to be a trap and feared for the Quarian's life – and the loss of that information more importantly.

"Here's some Quarian blood," Kaidan looked up from his Omni Tool. "And traces of Medigel."

"So, hurt but able to walk away."

"Seems like that," Kaidan agreed.

"Never heard of a Quarian biotic strong enough to do something like this," Wrex commented drily. As far as he knew, Quarian biotics were rare enough and unlike Krogans they tended to be on the weaker side. "And certainly not of a Quarian breaking the neck of a Turian with his bare hands." Was there such a thing like Quarian commandos?

"So, he had help," Shepard agreed with Wrex' assessment of the situation.

"She," Kaidan corrected him. "It's the blood of a female Quarian." That makes it even more probable that she had some kind of help. _Perhaps a knight in shining armour saved the day_ , Shepard scoffed.

"We still don't know where she is right now," Ashley interjected.

"Perhaps Vakarian is able to help," Kaidan mused. Ashley grimaced. She didn't like the idea of depending on some alien's help. Kaidan looked around. "No surveillance cameras around here, but perhaps C-Sec got some tape of an injured Quarian crossing the markets."

"Worth a try," Shepard nodded. He activated his comm. "Vakarian, here is Shepard…"

.

"This is from a camera at the plaza," Vakarian explained. He had been able to find some footage on the Quarian. It had actually been quite easy, as there weren't many Quarians on the Citadel compared to the other races and none other was carried around. He immediately sent the pictures to Shepard's omni tool.

"Any idea who's the brick carrying her?" Shepard asked. He was slightly impressed. Quarian, suit and equipment certainly weighed 150 pounds at least and the man was carrying her around like she was a toddler.

"That's Geralt," Garrus was able to answer without missing a beat.

"You know him?"

"Met him a couple of times. He's a drunkard without a real job, but a little bit of a … how to call them? ... boy scout." _A knight in shining armour_.

"Biotic?" Shepard followed a hunch.

"Yes, some kind of Telekinesis and Biotic Barrier at least."

"What a building is that?" Geralt had just entered a building after struggling with the door. The camera zoomed in onto the information sign: "Plaza Clinic, Dr Michel."

"Some kind of underworld doc?"

"No," Vakarian knew better. "She takes care of the underclass, those unable to pay for better medical care."

"We meet there," Shepard suggested.

"On my way."

.

 _ **Plaza Clinic**_

.

Something had disturbed his sleep. To clear the way, Geralt had left the surgery and found himself an empty bed. Despite the lack of alcohol in his blood and the events leading to his arrival at the clinic still on his troubled mind, he had easily slipped into sleep. It was something he never unlearned: the ability to find sleep whenever the opportunity arose. However, he equally easily woke up when his senses told him something being amiss.

"Leave her alone?" That was Tali's voice, hardly confusable.

"Deliver the information now, else…" A male voice threatened. Dr Michel screamed.

"Please don't," Tali begged. "She only wanted to help me."

"She should have known better," a second male voice replied.

"Are you quite finished in there?" Someone called from the entrance. _Three at least_ , Geralt concluded. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his ears, shutting out the sounds from the outside, counting the heartbeats of the people around. There was Tali's, easy to tell because of the dampening suit. Dr Michel, her heart beating rapidly in mortal fear. Five others. Two at the door, three with the captives. He needed a distraction. The wall between his room and the surgery was paper thin, more a visual shield than a real wall, the door of his room only slightly ajar, hiding him from observers. Obviously, they had no idea of his presence.

"Someone is coming," the guard from the door announced. "Shit, C-Sec cruiser."

"One of our men?" The leader asked. _Our men?_ Geralt grimaced. It was hardly a secret that many C-Sec officers were greased by someone. _Some things never changes_.

"No, it's that Vakarian guy." _Vakarian_ , Geralt grinned. _My distraction_.

"What is he doing?"

"Waiting for someone." The guard looked around. "There are some other guys approaching. Three humans and a … drat, that's a Krogan."

"I have no time for this shit," the leader cursed. "The information, now, or I'll kill her."

 _Fuck, no time to lose anymore_. His experience told him that the bad guys wouldn't simply leave. As soon as Tali delivered her information whatever it may be, they would shoot the girls before trying to get away. Even the best case would turn the girls into hostages. He took a run and jumped straight through the wall, completely taking the trio of thugs by surprise. Geralt saw a Batarian aiming at Dr Michel. A human got covered by the wall scraps, the third guy being a Turian who now tried to lift his shotgun. Making good use of the human, Geralt pushed him into the Turian, who instinctively pulled the trigger and killed his own man. _That certainly alarmed Garrus_ , Geralt grinned, hoping that the officer would take care of the two guards at the door. Before he had a chance to continue his charge, however, the Batarian shoved Dr Michel in his path and aimed onto Tali's head. "Freeze!"

Geralt heard gunfire from the entrance and some mighty war roar. _Two enemies, one with a shotgun, the other threatening a hostage_. Using Dr Michel's body to hide his action, he made a small gesture. Only Dr Michel saw the small Axii triangle forming in the air between them, and only the Batarian felt the impact. His eyes glazed over and he allowed the muzzle of his gun to lower.

"What are you doing?" The Turian bellowed at him, glancing to his chum for a split second. He lifted his shotgun and pulled the trigger. Geralt whirled around, dragging Dr Michel behind him to shield her with his body. Tali screamed in fear, expecting Geralt to turn into a bloody mess. However, his Quen shield activated just in time. It barely held out against the force of the shot but it was enough and not for the first time Geralt thanked that Ofieri Runesmith who had enchanted his jacket. The Turian had no time for another shot. Geralt jumped him, pushed the gun up and punched him right in the face, letting go of another sign dead centre. The force of the Aard was enough to break the neck and cave his face in. He was dead before his body hit the floor.

Tali had no idea what was happening around her, and especially she had no explanation for the weird behaviour of this Batarian Bosh'tet. But she knew a chance when she saw one. The thug's grip on his weapon was lose enough to wrangle it away. Seconds later, Tali had his gun in her hand and shot his kneecap – both to be on the sure side.

The sight when he entered the surgery only moments later was certainly not the one Garrus had expected to see. Geralt was sitting on the edge of the bed, one arm around a slightly trembling Dr Michel. Two thugs one the ground, obviously taken care of, the third whining and cowering in fear because the Quarian was aiming her gun in his direction.

"Hi, Vakarian, what gives?"

.

 _ **A wee bit later**_

"Remember, Wrex, we need Fist alive – for now."

The Krogan didn't look happy about the order and perhaps he even hoped that Fist would be vicious enough that he had to be taken down nonetheless, against the best of intentions naturally. Wrex grumbled loudly. He knew he wouldn't be so lucky. Humans were wimps, at least most of them. Shepard was an exception, he felt it. And this new man seemed less fragile as well. Wrex watched the white-hair for a moment. He was weird, in a way weirder than even Hanar and those were the pinnacle of weirdness usually. Geralt of Rivia he had called himself. Black leather clothes, real leather not some imitation crap. Physically he looked usual enough, but he had to be quite strong to break a Turian's neck. Added to this he supposedly was a biotic. On the other hand he used neither Omni tool nor gun. Instead he wore a sword right now in a sheath on his back and had a fucking crossbow in his hands. A crossbow; who used such a thing nowadays? The thing looked ancient, wood with some metallic parts. It had two drums on the underside; he assumed some kind of rotating magazine. Still, it was a relict. And he had no idea from where this Geralt got those weapons. He certainly hadn't those around when dragging the Quarian to the clinic.

The man Wrex had his thoughts on, assumed himself to be a relic as well. He had been living on the Citadel for three years now, but still had only a passing knowledge of modern technology. It was enough to open a door and to use vendor electronics, but that was more or less the limit of his abilities. Geralt had never needed to learn more, quite as he never saw reason to get himself a gun. He was very limited in the range of his signs, none of them reaching farther than ten yards. However, so far it had only been some thug or other trying to rob him that he even needed to switch into combat mode. Today had been the first time in years he had a real fight on his hands. And now he was walking straight into the next one. This odd man called Shepard had been quite happy about Tali's information, nearly ecstatic even. Moments later she was part of his team, the next destination being Chora's Den and the intended arrest of Fist. _And why was he part of his team?_ Geralt wondered. _Why didn't he simply stay in the clinic or went home, with a little stop at the local liquor store?_ He knew exactly why. The reason was simply: he was a pansy when confronted with puppy eyes – especially beautiful female puppy eyes. In this case those eyes belonged to Dr Chloe Michel.

" _Please take care of her. Her injured isn't fully healed. I fear she'll overextend herself and reopen the wound."_

She was right. Tali was trying to hide it but she still had a limp. And she moved like she was a little groggy from the antibiotics. Shepard didn't notice – or didn't care. Geralt however was unable not to care. The Quarian had quite the temper and she knew how to shoot. Nonetheless she reminded him far too much of Shani, his red-haired healer friend from Novograd: trying her best to be strong and not to depend on others, but still vulnerable and in need of a friend. And a friend he would be to her, at least for the moment. Geralt had no wish to return to Chloe with Tali's wrangled body. When push came to shove, he would knock her out and leave her somewhere hidden, bound to her own safety.

Geralt glanced around. Ashley and Kaidan were trailing Tali and Geralt. Wrex was taking point, with Garrus and Shepard close behind. Shepard was the only one he didn't address with his first name, mostly because he didn't know it. The group seemed alright so far. Garrus he knew already. Wrex reminded him of his friend Zoltan – only bigger. He didn't appreciate the distrustful looks Ashley had towards Garrus, Wrex and Tal, but otherwise the three humans seemed to be trustworthy.

"I expect him to have at least a dozen thugs at hand," Garrus claimed. "The bar has two entrances…"

"Three."

"Pardon?" Garrus and Shepard stopped.

"The bar has three entrances. Main, employee/fire exit and one secret entrance near the office," Geralt listed.

"And how do you know that?" Shepard asked warily. He had only accepted Geralt's presence because of Tali's insistence – and Garrus' faith in the drunkard's abilities. It did argue in Geralt's favour that he had been able to diffuse the hostage situation without Dr Michel or Tali getting hurt.

Geralt shrugged. "I knew the former proprietor quite well; had a drink with him in his office now and then. By the way, there are – or have been at least – two hidden turrets in the office. He was quite proud of them."

Shepard relaxed a little. That information was not unimportant. "Any knowledge about his team you care to spread?"

Geralt scratched his head. It was difficult to concentrate without any alcohol at hand. "Two are guarding the entrance, one walking around, and one behind the bar with the bartenders. By the way: Jenna will be there, so please be careful with the collateral, she's my favourite bartender. Easy to detect, she's the only human female there. Two guards with serious armour and weapons are usually in the room between the bar and the office, and near the side entrance is a room for his pet Krogan."

"Nine," Garrus counted, "ten with Fist."

"He has two shifts, the Krogan aside, and we put out of action most of his secondary team in the clinic. But a couple of times I saw a five-man squad working for him, Batarians all of them. Don't know if he has them around right now."

"So, worst case fifteen, perhaps seventeen thugs."

"Sounds about right," Geralt nodded.

"Okay, let's do some planning."

.

 _ **Chora's Den – fifteen minutes later**_

.

Shepard assumed Fist already knew about his men's demise. Certainly, he had enough C-Secs on his paylist to learn about the result of the ill-fated abduction. Would he expect an attack? Presumably. They would attack the bar in three teams. Shepard would lead the main team, with Garrus, Ash and Kaidan at his side. Their job was to draw the attention and take out the bulk of Fist's men. Wrex was a one-Krogan-team, the job simple but important: crash straight through the secondary entrance and neutralize Fist's Krogan. Tali had an important job as well, but one with a low risk as far as he hoped. Geralt would guard her while she closed off the escape route. Shepard hated the idea of going through all these men only to have his prey escape at the last moment. If everything went according to plan, Tali would never fire a gun. He didn't believe it, really, but he had to hope.

.

"He only said shut the door, Tali," Geralt scolded her. He was ill-tempered, his hands shaking. Unsurprisingly, the Quarian didn't listen and was eager to hack the door. She was a little irate about the traitorous gang boss, and Geralt wondered why he so often met this kind of women: petite but with a temper quite in contrast to their physical build. How does this amount of rage fit into such a small frame? _It was the hips_ , he decided, shaking his head to get rid of the sight of red hair that was only in his head.

With a click the door opened. Far too hasty and without even acknowledging Geralt's question, Tali rushed into the next room, only to come to a sudden stop with two armed Turians right ahead. She activated her Omni tool and hit the right one with a neural shock, stunning him for the moment. The other one didn't hesitate to open fire. The first salvo was absorbed by Tali's shield, the second brought it down. Tali felt her heart plummet as the stunned Turian recovered far earlier than expected and assisted his buddy. Apparently his armour was even better than expected.

"Drat!" Geralt pushed her aside, taking the hits in her stead. His jacket's Quen shield was barely able to take the first salvo and broke down under the second. He felt something hit his shoulder, pain exploded and he felt his collarbone break. With the other hand he lifted his crossbow. A buzzing sound rang out and the Turian to the left got a bolt right through the stomach, his shield never activating because the bolt moved too slow. Geralt had used a piercing bolt, because the room was too small for the exploding kind. It went right through armour, body and the tip even pierced the armour on the back. The Turian cursed, only to get a second bolt into the chest that effectively silenced him. Geralt would have preferred to target the throat but with only one hand able to handle the crossbow he didn't trust his aim.

Dodging to the right he escaped the fire from the second Turian. His shield was activated because of Tali's former attack and not such an easy target for Geralt. Dropping the crossbow, Geralt drew his sword and moved further to the right, both to avoid the next shot and to distract the Turian from Tali who was doing something with her Omni tool. He felt pain and adrenalin raging in his veins and his head was throbbing. "Stay down, Shani!" He ordered. Tali obeyed, more out of confusion.

From the bar they were able to hear such an amount of gunshots and explosions that Geralt really feared a little for their health – and his favourite watering hole's continued existence. He had no idea what Tali was doing, didn't know that the energy pulse zapping from her tool into the shield overloaded it. The result however was clearly visible: the Turian was unprotected now. The armour didn't count. Geralt had used the sword to fight stone golems in the past, a little metal and Kevlar was nothing to it. Like cutting butter he slashed through the gun and arm, leaving only stumps and a shocked Turian. He was only shocked for a second however, as Geralt's second slash aimed for the neck. Tali stared, gulping because of all the blood and gore. Only now did she notice than some of the blood wasn't the Turian kind.

"You're wounded."

Geralt looked down as if he only noticed the injury right now. He shrugged, pulled a vial from a pocket with his injured arm. He fumbled a little, until Tali took it from his hand, opened it and handed it back. Geralt downed half of the content. "White Raffard," he explained to Tali without really explaining anything. He dribbled the rest into the wound, hissing because of the pain. Tali's eyes widened as the wound immediately started to close.

"Something like Medigel?" Tali wondered.

"Something like that, yeah," Geralt responded. "But you shouldn't use it. Chance is it would make you more ill than before." Tali guessed – wrongly – it had something to do with her being dextro amino based. The actual reason was the poison in the potion. Geralt was only able to stand it because he had been treated with a strange concoction of herbs and mutagens in his past – and survived the ordeal unlike many others.

There was still shooting in the main bar. "Fist or helping the others?" Geralt asked, already knowing that Tali wouldn't stay around.

"Fist!" No surprise.

"You take the turret on the left," Geralt commanded. Tali nodded her agreement. "Ready, go!" A burst of Aard energy caved in the door and made it explode into the office. Fist, with only a single Batarian keeping him company, was shocked long enough for Geralt to charge into the room. He was barely able to reach a table and get some cover before the Batarian opened fire. Fist jumped back and pressed a button, the duo of gun-turrets obeying his command. Taking the Batarian's shot with his Quen shield, Geralt concentrated on the right turret, unleashing a stream of fire that instantly melted the metal. The left one was down a few seconds later, Tali's sabotage making short work of it. Geralt jumped back as his Quen flickered. The next shot missed him, the Batarian unable to cope with Geralt's reflexes and speed. Tali's new pistol bellowed a few times, needing three hits to take the Batarian's shield down while the next two rounds put him out of his misery.

It still could have turned ugly. Fist, unwilling to quit, came back into sight with a LMG in his hands. He was barely able to handle the heavy weapon but Geralt didn't wait to give him a chance. An Axii stopped the man cold in his tracks, stunning him long enough for Geralt to rush in. A fist to his temple knocked him out. Now they only had to wait for Shepard to extinguish the last resistance in the bar. Tali used the time to search the room for incriminating files, while Geralt watched her. As the last battle sounds clambered down, she shortly stopped her search and looked up. "Thank you for saving me out there," she said her voice a little troubled. She was still thinking about him calling her Shani, but left it be for now.

"Think nothing of it," Geralt shrugged.

"We are a good team," Tali muttered. He felt her smile.

"That we are."

.

 _ **Office of the Consort**_

.

"Hello, Nelyna, my sweet honey pie. You get more beautiful every time we meet." Geralt put an arm around the Asari's waist that was standing at the Consort's reception, ignoring the looks from the other team members. To his horror, it wasn't Nelyna but some other Asari that glared at him as he turned her around.

"Do we know each other?" Her voice wasn't as sweet as Nelyna's but there was still some similarity.

"Err, hi," he mumbled. "You aren't Nelyna."

The Asari lifted a single eyebrow and relaxed a little. There was even a small smile on her lips, despite Geralt still having a hand on her hips. "No, I'm Saphyria, Nelyna's sister."

"Goddess," Geralt exclaimed with no small amount of exaggeration. "Your mother must have accumulated quite some good Karma in her past life to have two such stunning daughters."

"Does this line ever work?" The Asari wondered. Ashley face-palmed and Tali sniggered.

Geralt shrugged. "With my friend Dandelion they did." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Thinking about it: with Dandelion everything worked, even the most stupid lines. Certainly, had to do with his frilly clothes and the stupid hairdo."

"Perhaps we could meet sometime with this Dandelion," Saphyria joked. "See if his charm is simply working better than yours."

"He died," Geralt's mood sobered a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was more than fifty years ago." He tried to smile falling flat. "Still hurts sometimes."

Saphyria nodded. She knew the feeling of surviving your friends. Still, this human caught her interest. He didn't look old enough to have lost a dear friend fifty years ago.

"Hello Geralt," he was greeted by the Asari he had been looking for. Nelyna hugged him, kissing him on the cheek. "Here to see the Consort?" Geralt belonged to the small circle of people who even had a chance of meeting the Consort without planning months in advance, and even Nelyna had no idea why he belonged to this small circle. He certainly was no Councillor or Ambassador, no VIP.

"Yes," Geralt sighed and gestured towards Fist, bound and beaten with Wrex glaring at him or – even more terrifying – showing a smile of anticipation. "We need her help with a prisoner."

.

 _ **Presidium – next day**_

.

Geralt was waiting for Shepard's return. The Commander had been "invited" to another meeting with the Citadel Council. Tali and Garrus accompanied him, while the rest had to stay out. Not that Geralt had any wish to meet them. He hated politicians, a mindset Ashley more than shared, one of the few things they had in common. Hopefully, their evidence would be enough this time.

Sha'ira, liked expected, had been able to help them with interrogating Fist. In principle, the Asari melding process had to be voluntary on both sides. But with Geralt offering the choices – cooperate or Wrex – the choice had been swift and easy. Wrex was still a little unhappy about Fist surviving, but after a small talk with Barla Von, they had been able to buy the man's life from the Shadow Broker. However, Fist had been informed to better stay in prison and not to try getting away, else the deal was null and void. His information about his cooperation with Saren had been interesting, be it the killing contract for Tali or how Fist procured the bombs Saren intended to use on Eden Prime.

"You should have told me sooner that this whole mess was about Saren and him killing Nihlus," Geralt grumbled. Somehow it had never come up before: the reason Shepard had been this interested in Saren.

"You know Saren?" Kaidan wondered. Anderson had already told them about his past experiences with the prejudiced Spectre. Was Geralt another victim of him?

"Nihlus," Geralt responded. "I knew Nihlus. He was the one investigating my arrival. He was helpful, not a friend but really a cop with integrity. It's rare enough around the Citadel … or elsewhere."

"Your arrival?" Kaidan was confused. "Why should he investigate your arrival? How did you arrive?"

Geralt shrugged. "Nobody knows. There are no records, no scan data, nothing about it."

"Don't you know it yourself?"

"I the least of all," Geralt grinned. "I was a bit …"

"Drunk?" Kaidan offered helpful. Everything in his orderly, regulated mind screamed out against this untidy drunkard, but somehow, he liked the man. He had his heart in the right place.

"If it was only that, but alcohol was a part of it. I have no memory of those days. There are only glimpses." He shrugged again. "In the end, it makes no difference to me. I'm here now, making the best out of it. But some of my friendships started back then." _Nihlus. Sha'ira_.

"Don't you want to return home? You do know where you come from, don't you?"

"I do, but it doesn't help. I have no real reason to go back. All of my friends are dead. My wife…" he breathed deeply. "Even my daughter Ciri died years ago. I survived them all." He smiled sadly. "Sometimes I think it's my punishment to survive everyone I care about."

"War?" Kaidan guessed this Geralt to be around fifty, sixty at most.

"Some of them," Geralt agreed. "Others simply died of old age like my daughter."

Kaidan was more than a little confused. How could this man's daughter die of old age?

"How old are you?" Ashley asked, wondering about the same thing. Her gut told her that this Geralt wasn't a liar but this simply didn't fit together.

"Has nobody told you that you don't ask a lady her age?" Geralt joked.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Luckily you aren't a lady, not even a gentleman."

"Hey, I resent that," Geralt mock-complained. "To answer your question," he looked thoughtful. "I'm not certain. I stopped counting after my daughter died." Ciri hadn't been his real daughter, couldn't have been because the mutagens made him sterile. But he had reared her, taught her everything he knew and cared for her like a daughter. And she had reciprocated the feeling; saw more a father in him than in her biological one. He had seen her grow up, marry, get children and grandchildren before she died, while he stayed mostly the same.

"Wild guess?" Ashley joked.

"Two hundred, perhaps two hundred twenty, plus minus a decade," he shocked them with his bland answer.

"Two hundred and twenty?" Kaidan gushed. "How is that even possible?"

"I got…" Geralt hesitated. "You would call it gentherapy I suppose. It was something different but the result was similar. It made me stronger and faster. A spill over was longevity."

"Are there others like you?"

"Have been in the past," Geralt nodded. "But not anymore. There was no need anymore and not everybody survived the process."

"But there could be others out there still alive?" Did the Alliance know about them? Was he a product of some Black Ops project.

"Unlikely," Geralt declined the idea. "I got more treatments than the others. Made me even stronger and apparently extended my life even more. I knew only one other of my kind who got older. Still he died." Vesemir had been 250 at least when he died in the battle of Caer Morhen. Geralt had undergone a second treatment a couple of months later, stumbling over the hidden laboratory of one Dr Moreau. The man had been researching a way to "heal" the effects Mutagens had on humans. Instead he only found a way to strengthen them. If Geralt could, he would return to that day and prevent his younger self from entering the lab. His long life had only ensured a greater amount of grief and regret.

"I see a longer story in there," Kaidan concluded. "Perhaps for another day." Somehow he had no doubt that Geralt would be around for a bit longer.

"Perhaps."

.

 _ **A/N**_

 _I hope you liked the story so far. Here a couple of background information/decisions from my Witcher-3 playthrough and how I imagine the time after those events._

 _ **Geralt**_ _rescued Ciri from the Wild Hunt and convinced her to return to her father's side to become the new empress. Novograd fell to the Empire, the Skellige got peaceful because of the new Queen Cerys, and Temeria was a more or less free Vassal of the Empire. Geralt at later times always regretted how he handled Ciri (not helping her to leave the country to live the life of a Witcher). He married Triss Merigold and lived in Korvir with her (and on his vineyard in Beauclair, from the DLC Blood and Wine)._

 _Triss died fifty years later in an accident, Ciri ten years after that because of old age as did Dandelion, Shani and Geralt's other friends. Yennefer, the other great love of his life, was killed in a court intrigue around Ciri's successor. Even the other Witchers slowly died out, as there had been no new ones for decades. There simply aren't many Dragons, Gryphons and other beasts left and modern weapons are able to deal with those few. Life has changed and Geralt was a relic, unable to adapt and caught up in his grief._

 _A little reminder of the_ _ **signs**_ _Geralt is using:_

 _Aard: kinetic energy (range 5-10y, single target or area, deals medium damage, may freeze target)_

 _Igni: fire attack (arc or stream, weakens armour, burning targets, high damage)_

 _Yrden: area slowing effect (radius 14y, may lay several traps, may drain vitality)_

 _Quen: shield (dampens damage, active shield possible, throws back attacks, may restore vitality)_

 _Axii: confusion (may influence target, even convince to fight for him, max 2 targets)_

 _ **Equipment**_ _known so far:_

 _Leather armour (jacket has Quen rune on it), Sword, Crossbow with 6-bolt drum_

 _ **Shani and Triss:**_

 _To avoid confusion, I use the canon description for these. Shani has red hair and green eyes, Triss has chestnut hair and cornflower blue eyes (not the red/green combination from the game)._


	2. Chapter 2 Inner Unrest

_**A/N**_

 _I'll keep mostly with the standard events of ME 1. Some details I'll change and not only because of Geralt and his impact on the story. The first detail that differs is how and when Shepard learns about Noveria, Feros and Thessum._

 _By the way: my Shepard is Jebediah Shepard, Vanguard, Colonist/Survivor, he ended ME 1 with Paragorn 10, Renegade 7._

 **.**

 **Inner Unrest**

.

" _Last one is a Nilfgaardian," Triss teased him and surged ahead. Her tingling laughter filled the air, and Geralt had difficulty to concentrate on the path and not on her shapely legs. She was going on hundred-and-fifty now, but nobody would have guessed her older than thirty. They had been married for the past 53 years and known each other far longer. The magic that turned him into a Witcher and her into a Sorceress had given them the same longevity. They could easily live to celebrate their heaven marriage – one hundred years together. Geralt slipped. Or not. One day this woman will be the death of me._

 _He stopped for a moment and watched her. She was like a doe, elegance and beauty personified; a doe that could shatter a golem with her magic or rip off the wings of a dragon. Triss was so unlike Yennefer, the other woman he had been together with for a while. Both were Sorceress, both intelligent and so beautiful that it hurt to watch them. But like their hair, so were they different in temper. To Yennefer's black hair Triss had chestnut. With Yennefer it had been like Fire and Ice, passionate kisses and shouting matches. The makeup sex had been … climatic. Triss on the other hand made him feel at home. It was harmony, it was peace. Where Yennefer would always be a politician at heart, Triss was all about compassion and braveness. He remembered the day she lost three of her fingernails, enduring torture to give Geralt the time to rescue a friend._

 _A younger Geralt would have preferred Yennefer, he was sure about it. Life with her would certainly be more entertaining, more adventurous. But the older Geralt had enough of those times. He enjoyed the calmer court of Korvir instead of the louder imperial one. And if they needed more entertainment, they could always spend some time at his vineyard in Beauclair. They only had one regret. The magic that gave them their powers and their longevity, stole something from them. It made them sterile. They would never have children. Yennefer had decided long ago to be a surrogate mother to Ciri, like Geralt was her secondary father. Triss found a different output for her mother instinct: she had kind of adopted the orphans of Korvir, spending time with them and even trying her hand at baking._

" _Where are you?" She giggled._

 _Geralt rolled his eyes and run after her. "I'll get you."_

 _._

 _It had been their last day together. The beginning of the end._

.

 _ **Flux**_

.

"So, Spectre now." Geralt took a nip from his drink. It had a creepy neon-green colour and he wasn't certain about the composition, but he liked the fruity taste. It was certainly way better than the one time a Turian barkeeper tried to poison him simply for being a human. Geralt grinned. The Turian's face had been priceless when Geralt's body simply denied succumbing to the otherwise deadly poison. There had been running, chasing around and some punching the shit put of him afterwards, until Geralt forced the deadly drink down the Turian's throat. It had been an ugly, agonizing hour until the medics pumped his stomach. Not one of his finer moments. "Congratulations are in order, I suppose."

Shepard growled, obviously feeling mocked and rightfully so. Becoming Spectre had been a welcome surprise, the rest of the meeting not so much. The four humans had met in the Flux afterwards and were kind of celebrating, if celebrating meant that Shepard was growling, Ashley cursing and Kaidan trying to keep the rest from getting themselves hammered. "They won't send any ships into the Terminus. We'll be the only ones actively searching for Saren." He was still slightly mad about the fate of the Normandy and how Anderson got evicted from his own ship. He loved the Normandy, but this wasn't how he imagined to get his first commando.

"And the Crew?"

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "Old crew plus Wrex, Garrus and Tali; next chance we'll get an additional four Marines detachment." The Normandy had a standard crew of fifty but only four marines. With Jenkins KIA on Eden Prime, that wasn't enough to protect the ship. Not with the action they expected to see.

"Sure about Tali?" Geralt asked before he was able to keep the words in.

"Why are you asking? Because she's a Quarian?" Shepard so far hadn't the impression that Geralt was xenophob. Actually, only Ashley had said something hinting at her caution regarding the Aliens onboard.

"No, because she's prone to getting herself injured." Geralt felt butterflies doing the tango in his stomach at the thought of Tali getting hurt.

"I noticed that," Shepard grinned. "How often had you to save her hide already? Twice?"

"Thrice," Geralt corrected him.

"The shoulder?" Kaidan guessed, remembering the injury from Chora's Den.

"Yes," Geralt sighed.

"Then you'll have to accompany us." Shepard calmly stated, ignoring Ashley's _are you certain about this_ look. Actually, it was more like _are you completely out of your mind_ look. "I need her tech expertise, Geralt. She knows more about Geth than any other member of my crew."

Geralt stared. "I drink too much." He had never been a fan of the army and this ship and its crew screamed army to him despite Shepard's new status.

"We'll take care of that." Kaidan coughed, suppressing a smile.

"I curse," Geralt joked, his heart not really in finding excuses to stay away.

"Don't we all?"

"I have no idea of Tech and never used a gun."

Shepard looked thoughtful. Who was this Geralt? He had a good feeling about the man but he was really weird. Kaidan came to the rescue: "Ashley and I will take care of that. A few crash courses and you'll know everything you need to know."

Ashley had her doubts, but on the other hand: "it's not like you depend on guns. With your biotics I mean."

"Speaking of Biotics, which Amp do you use? Do you want to upgrade before we depart?" Kaidan wondered, hoping that Geralt wasn't caught up with an L2 like himself. While the L2 made him a quite powerful biotic, it had serious drawbacks like being prone to migraines, one of them being the near impossibility of getting rid of it.

"Amp?" Geralt wondered, shocking the trio with his bland answer.

"Yes, Amp. As in Amplifier." Shepard lifted the hair in his neck showing his own. Geralt simply stared with blank eyes. "You have no idea what we're speaking about, have you?"

"Err, no?"

"You use Biotics. Certainly, you have an amplifier. You must have." _After all, he wasn't an Asari_.

"I use _kind of Biotics_ ," Geralt corrected him.

"How can you use _kind of Biotics_? Sounds like kind of dead. Kind of married." Shepard half-joked.

Geralt sighed. "It's complicated. Let's just say that I use something that's similar in effect but I don't need an amplifier to use it. I got a special … medical treatment in my youth that took care of it."

Shepard thought about it for a while. He couldn't imagine what exactly had happened to Geralt. But in the end only the result counted. "We'll have to take a closer look at your abilities, to get an impression what you can do in a mission." He hesitated for a moment. "Only when you'll accompany us, naturally."

"I will," Geralt agreed calmly. Perhaps it was time to move on. He wouldn't allow Tali to die on this mission, not after saving her life three times in twenty-four hours. Getting Nihlus murderer was only a bonus. _For a second, he felt Triss' proud smile_.

"Welcome on board."

.

 _ **Near the Human Embassy**_

.

They had left Geralt at the Flux. Rita, one of the barmaids had wanted to speak with him. It didn't look like flirting, not that this small fact did anything to stop the teasing. A couple of minutes later, their Omni tools noticed how Geralt called Garrus to meet him in Chora's Den. The bar had already reopened under the old boss – much to Geralt's delight. Apparently Jenna, Rita's sister and Geralt's favourite barkeeper, needed some help with a C-Sec officer.

They had been on their way to the Normandy when Ashley got addressed by a human. "Gunnery Sergeant Williams?" He glanced towards Shepard, apparently a little wary of the man. Certainly he had seen the vids of his Spectre ceremony. He was around thirty and looked like he was of Indian descent. Actually, he looked familiar to Ashley, as if she had seen him on a picture.

"Yes? Do I know you?"

"I'm…"

"Shamesh Bhatia," Ashley suddenly remembered. Her faced darkened a little as she realized the reason of his presence. "Sorry for your loss, sir." Shepard and Alenko sympathized with her, knowing how much it had hurt her to lose her squad on Eden Prime.

"My loss?" Shamesh asked, looking a little confused.

"Your wife?" Ashley wondered if he didn't know about Nirali's death. This could turn out being very uncomfortable.

"Nirali," Shamesh smiled happily. "She's getting better. She's greeting you. We've seen your picture at the ceremony. Congratulations by the way, Sir." Shepard curtly nodded his eyes still on Ashley. She was swaying a little.

"Are you alright?" Shepard whisper-asked Ashley, as he had to steady her.

Ashley gulped. "She's … she's alive?"

"Yes," Shamesh nodded. He paled. "Didn't you know?"

"No," Ashley whispered, tears shooting into her eyes. "I thought she died with the rest."

"No, she survived; got here with a couple of injured settlers. I'm sorry. We really thought you knew. I've been with her since she arrived."

"Where is she?" Her grin the happiest Shepard had ever seen on Ashley's face. _She's beautiful when she smiles._ _Bad thought, Jebediah, bad thought_ , he scolded himself _. Remember: no fraternization for commanding officers._

"I'll show you."

.

"It's disgusting." Nirali was furious. "They keep the bodies back. They won't even tell us why. It's not right. The families of our comrades deserve to get them." Nirali looked like shit thrice cooked over, but that didn't stop her ranting. Actually, it was a good sign in Ashley's eyes, meaning that Nirali was really on her way to recovery. Losing her – or thinking that she lost her – had hurt even more than with the others. Corporal Nirali Bhatia was a hell of a soldier and able to easily switch between professional behaviour on duty and turning into a real friend afterwards. She had been the only member of Ashley's old squad who had been close to her.

"Do you have a name? A contact name?"

"Some Clerk Bosker," Shamesh assisted. He had been his wife's errand boy, without much success so far.

"I'll ask Commander Shepard for help."

"Do you think he'll help us?"

"He's a Marine," was Ashley's simple answer. She smiled softly and patted Nirali's hand. "And you – see that you get better."

"I will." Nirali looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ash, do you think I could…"

"Could what?"

"Could get an assignment, on the Normandy I mean. I don't want back to go back to Eden Prime."

Ashley thought about it, biting her lower lip. She sympathized with the sentiment. "The Commander said something about a couple more Marine that will join us and a replacement for Jenkins. He was a Marine of his crew who died on Eden Prime. Should I ask him for you?"

"Please do." She would. Ashley really liked the idea of having her around again.

.

"The examination of the bodies…"

"Is illegal without the families' consent," Kaidan stopped him cold. Ashley had been left behind by Shepard because of her temper, and he had chosen Kaidan to accompany him on this little trip, as the Staff Lieutenant had a better grasp of Alliance regulations – as he was just proving. "According to the regulations concerning Marines KIA, paragraph 148.3, you're only allowed to hold back the bodies in case of contagious infection or if there are doubts about the circumstances of their death."

"Examining them…"

"Does nothing," Shepard stopped him sharply. "We brought you a couple of dragon's teeth for your investigation. That should be enough. If there is a justified reason you need the bodies as well, you could ask the families. But you can't simply decide not to deliver them." He growled and leant into Bosker's private sphere, making good use of his intimidating physique. "I expect to see them on their route back to Earth within twenty-four hours. Are we agreed?"

Clerk Bosker gulped his eyes wide. "Agreed."

.

 _ **Normandy**_

.

"Thank you for your help," Geralt uttered, sitting down across Garrus.

"Think nothing of it. Chellick has always been a little too eager, too interested in results without thinking about the people involved. Usually I would appreciate his methods, but it wouldn't help to get Jenna killed without her being able to gather any new information."

"They would have figured her out in a second," Geralt moodily said. "She's too timid and too bad of an actor." And this coming from the man who got the comment "your acting skill is very minimalistic" from the theatre director after his sole guest appearance ever on the boards that meant the world.

The duo had offered Chellick some help with the information gathering and in return the C-Sec had agreed to let Jenna off the hook. Everybody was content and Geralt still had his favourite barkeeper attending him.

"Hi Shepard," Garrus suddenly hollered. "What have you got there?"

Shepard had entered the mess and sat down. He was playing with some trinket. It looked old and like crafted out of silver and a couple of semi-precious stones. "A present from Sha'ira," he put it on the table.

"Gathering presents from the Consort already, for services delivered?" Garrus teased. "What is it good for?"

Shepard shrugged. "She said something about having a feeling I would need it. No idea if it has some real effect. Sha'ira apparently doesn't know either. Asari can get a little creepy sometimes."

"May I have a look?" Geralt asked. The trinket looked familiar. Shepard delivered it to him and watched him as he examined the trinket. Those runes, he had seen them before. Garrus and Shepard watched him with amusement as Geralt shed of his jacket, earning himself a couple of catcalls from a pair of female crew members watching him. Ashley had to admit that Geralt looked quite fit despite his age. _He certainly got some offers now and then_. Shepard sighed inwardly. And Geralt wasn't limited by fraternization rules like him. "Here," Geralt pointed towards a rune that was stitched into his jacket. Shepard blinked.

"That looks the same."

"At least it looks similar enough. I would like to try something."

"If you don't damage the trinket, don't let me stop you."

"Can't promise," Geralt didn't wait any longer but put the trinket on the ground. "Aard," he activated the sign, directing the energy output towards the trinket. It got slammed into the ground, denting the floor slightly, but the trinket itself was undamaged and started to glow now. He returned it to Shepard. "Do you feel anything?" Kaidan watched it with interest. That had been anything but biotic.

Shepard concentrated on the trinket, on his senses and if anything differed from before. "Weird," he said after a moment. "I'm feeling something that wasn't there before. It seems to react with my biotics. Is that possible?"

"I have a hunch what this is about. We have to test it." Geralt grinned. It was a slightly unnerving grin. "I'm not sure you'll like the test."

.

"Are you crazy?" Ashley shouted. Luckily she hadn't a gun at hand else she certainly would have shot Geralt right now. He had led them to the small shooting range, ordered Shepard to disable his armour's kinetic shield, before he calmly drew a handgun and shot him in the leg. Like intended, Geralt had started with his firearm training. So far he was only able to use a pistol, actually being a fair shot with it. Anyhow, he would have hit the leg and injured Shepard, if not for something strange happening.

"Your biotic shield activated," Kaidan gawked. It had stopped the shot.

"Without my doing," Shepard was flabbergasted. "I felt the drain on my core but I did nothing."

"That's because of the trinket. It's the same with my jacket."

Kaidan whistled. "Self-activation, that's certainly helpful."

"I think thanks to Sha'ira are in order," Geralt suggested.

"I will," Shepard agreed. "But first a little more testing."

.

 _ **Lower Markets**_

.

Geralt was following Garrus towards his – so far unknown – destination. It was difficult to keep up with him. There was too much to see. Even after three years on the Citadel – two only if he subtracted the days he spent in drunken stupor – he was still baffled by all the races populating the station, and that coming from someone who had spent his life around elves, dwarves and all kind of monsters. There had been a couple of talks back home with rock trolls he remembered quite well. Talking to a Hanar or Elcor was equally strange. Many races didn't respect or like humans very much, Batarians actually hated them, and none of those were able to see the difference between a human from Earth and Geralt. In a way it was a welcome experience. Nobody called him freak or mutant, they simply assumed his hair colour and the form of his eyes was the result of some medical treatment for beauty reasons. Garrus navigated the market with experienced ease, steered clear of an angry looking Krogan and headed for the man he had been looking for.

"Chorban?"

The Salarian turned around, his eyes widening as he recognized Geralt standing there. Even more unsettling was the scanner in the Turian's hand – Chorban's scanner. He blinked nervously. "Who wants to know?"

"That's him," Geralt interjected happily. "You could have told me that you wanted to meet him." Salarians were a little on the weird side, always edgy, always a little hyperactive. But this one had been nice enough. With a bit of free time on his hand until they got their first lead – Udina and Anderson were moving heaven and hell to find anything about Saren, Benezia or the Geth – he had agreed to help the Salarian for a bit of money. He didn't need the money, had still enough from home, but the Salarian had looked a bit like a kicked puppy until he agreed to it.

"You gave my friend this scanner to use it on the Keepers?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He was visibly nervous. If physically able to, he would have sweated profusely by now.

"You don't remember?" Geralt wondered. "You know, the Keepers that are running around everywhere. You told me to scan them with this little toy of yours."

"This must be a misunderstanding, I should leave." He did barely one step before Garrus' hand closed around his bony arm.

"Stay," Garrus commanded with his best drill-sergeant voice. "Perhaps we should continue this talk at C-Sec." He flashed his badge and Chorban looked like he was shitting himself.

"We didn't want to hurt anybody," he wailed.

"You would have hurt him," Garrus pointed towards Geralt. "Forgot to tell him scanning the Keepers is illegal, right? Completely slipped your mind."

"What?" Now it was Geralt's turn to get angry. "You slimy little bastard…" He wasn't against breaking some law, but at least he wanted to know beforehand.

"My partner threatened to kill me if I don't get him the measurement results."

Garrus dragged him towards an empty table at the edge of the market – empty after his glare sent a couple of teenage hooligans packing. "Sit down. Explain. Start from the beginning."

.

They had solved the matter, cleared the air between Chorban and his partner – a Volus called Jahleed – and even got a bit of coin out of the whole affair, mostly to stay silent and "give them another chance".

"Next time you should be more careful about the jobs you accept," Garrus scolded him on their way back to the Normandy.

Geralt raised a single eyebrow. "I've been a professional problem solver for more than 15 decades, do you really expect me to learn new tricks anymore?"

"Perhaps not." He glanced towards the human. "At least you aren't drinking as much anymore."

Geralt growled a little. "Damned Chakwas. She somehow feels it when I even glance at a bottle." The shaking hands were getting better but it needed more than a few weeks to compensate for a 3-year drinking spree. Not that he completely stopped the drinking. Geralt wasn't even certain his body was able to exist without alcohol, not with it being an important part of most Witcher potions. It was more like going back to a status "drinking in controlled amounts", certainly not something you suggest for your run-of-the-mill ex-alcoholic.

Garrus chuckled. Should he tell him that Tali implanted some monitoring routines on the Normandy that warned Chakwas in case of a relapse? Better not. Geralt wasn't sober the whole time, but they were working on lowering the amount of alcohol in his blood. The human looked better for the effort. Friends had to take care of each other.

.

 _ **Normandy – on their way to Therum**_

.

"What do we know about this Asari? Kaidan?"

"Dr Liara T'Soni, Asari, daughter of Matriarch Benezia T'Soni, identity of father is unknown but is an Asari as well. This makes her a so-called Pureblood in the eyes of other Asari."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"In the eyes of most Asari," Dr Chakwas took over "it's something you try to politely ignore in a conversation. Asari use their melding ability for procreation. It's not implicit a physical act, instead they search the DNA of their partner and add strings to their own they assume being useful. Diversity is something Asari value highly. Adding Asari DNA to their own is wasteful in their eyes."

"Understood. Anything else?"

Kaidan continued. "She's only 106 years old, barely an adult in the eyes of her people. Scientist, field archaeologist to be exactly, specialising on Prothean Ruins."

"Prothean Ruins you say, interesting. Do you know her per chance, Dr Warren?"

Shepard turned towards the scientist whose life he had rescued back on Eden Prime, hers and that of her partner who had a nervous breakdown and was still recovering from the shocking experience. Because of Saren's interest in the Prothean Beacon, it had been obvious for him to recruit her. Luckily, she had agreed and was their onboard Prothean specialist for now. She had been helpful in deciphering a couple of those images he received from the Prothean Beacon. Much was still a weird and almost "modern art" puzzle, but it had been a start. Sooner or later she would leave the Normandy again, he had no doubt. Dr Warren simply lacked the special character traits to feel at home in this unusual team. Unlike Geralt, Shepard mused. The odd man had easily struck a friendship with Garrus and got along with most others. Only Ashley was at odds with him, the reasons so far unknown to Shepard.

"I never met her," Dr Warren responded. "But I've read a couple of her papers in the past. Her research is controversial, to put it mildly. Brilliant, but not following the beaten tracks. She has been a researcher in the Prothean Field for half a century, her doctoral thesis about them dating back to the 2140s." Dr Warren looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not certain if I remember correctly, but I think I once read something about her being at odds with her mother because she didn't choose a political career."

"So, she's not following her mother's chosen path?"

"I guess so."

"Nonetheless," Kaidan interjected. "Our inquiries with the security at Therum revealed that she had contact with Matriarch Benezia. Over the past month, there had been three long distance calls from her mother."

"Do we know anything about the content of those calls?"

"Nope," Kaidan shook his head. "Heavily encrypted, the lot of them."

"Then we'll have to ask her after our arrival. That's all for now. Dismissed."

.

 _ **Leaving Edolus Orbit**_

.

"Joker, everybody is back on board. Continue flight towards Therum. Pressley, I need a secure connection to Rear Admiral Kahoku on the Citadel."

"Roger that!"

Jebediah Shepard was fuming. His towering rage was visible and frightening enough to convince even the closest team mates to leave him alone for now. Nobody knew for sure what had happened down on Edolus, apart from the other members of his landing team, and they weren't divulging anything either. Ashley had left the Mako in the hangar, its barely fit to work condition shocking Garrus into silence. She had only growled something incomprehensible and went for the shooting range, proving to Geralt what a pissed off marine is able to do with an assault rifle and a dozen thermal clips. Kaidan in a way reacted even worse. After marking the hangars walls with a couple of new dents thanks to a biotic flash and a dozen heavy crates and tools mimicking the effect of a C4 explosion, he hadn't said a single word. His face showed no emotion and could have been a wooden death mask. Only Dr Chakwas realized that he was using his biotic meditation technique to get his emotions under control and barely held it together.

What the shit had happened to them?

.

"We found your men on Edolus, Sir," Shepard explained to the Rear Admiral a few minutes later. He had gotten a message from Kahoku just as he prepared to leave the Citadel. Apparently, his staff had lost liaison with one of his teams a couple of days before. He was concerned, especially as someone had put a landing ban on that world, reasons "classified". Shepard, being Spectre and all, hadn't to obey the ban and had been willing to assist the Admiral. While not a member of the Alliance Fleet anymore, he knew Kahoku's reputation. He was a well-respected soldier and leader and, far more important to Shepard, according to the rumour mill Kahoku actually cared for his soldiers. Such a man was rare enough among the brass.

"According to your expression I assume they're all dead," Kahoku clenched his jaws after saying that. He had expected it, but still had dared to hope.

"Every one of them is dead," Shepard replied. "They actually were dead even days before you bade me to have a look."

"And how? They were good men, experienced and well-equipped. What could have…"

"Thresher Maws, Sir. Thresher Maws killed them. They landed right in the middle of a nest, killed one of the beasts, but succumbed to the other one."

"How could this happen? Simply bad luck?"

"No, Sir," Shepard shook his head. "I've the proof in my cargo bay and will deliver it when we'll return to the Citadel. Apparently, someone had a rocket sonde land there, sending out a rescue signal pleading for help. Your men followed the signal into their deaths. To speak plainly, Sir, it was a trap, a fucking death trap. There never was anybody to be rescued."

"Why would anybody do this?"

"No idea, Sir. So far we've not been able to find anything about the identity of the culprit either. Perhaps your staff has more luck with that." He intended on sending him Barla Von's contact information. Perhaps the Shadow Broker knew more about the ambush, and Kahoku certainly had the necessary funds and motivation to deal with him.

"We'll see. Thank you, Shepard."

"I wished I could have done more. Please tell me if I can do anything to help you, Sir. We can't allow them to get away with this."

"We won't, Shepard. We'll stay in contact. Kahoku out."

He left Shepard deep in thoughts. Who could have done something this heinous? And why? What did he or they want to accomplish with this? He had no idea, but he would be more careful in the future with following some rescue signal, that for sure.

.

With a little help from Garrus, Geralt had been able to open the door and enter Shepard's cabin. The man looked like he had been sleeping in his uniform, the face slightly crumpled and he was stinking of old sweat. Lucky for him, Geralt had seen worse and had been far worse in the past. Hell, he had lived weeks on end looking like this, and those had been his better days. Without a word he sat down, produced two tumblers and a dusty looking bulgy bottle. He poured them two generous shots and pushed one tumbler into Shepard's hand.

"I thought you could use that."

Shepard curtly nodded and accepted the tumbler, taking a healthy gulp of its content. He felt the warmth spread in his stomach as the otherworldly good taste made him shudder. His face lit up and there was a hint of a smile. "That's really good." He took a look at the bottle: Cognac, Corvo Bianco, 1340.

"Corvo Bianco is my vineyard." Geralt looked pensive for a moment. "Is it still mine, if I can't go there anymore?" He shrugged. "It was already well known for its red vines when I got it for a job well done, but a while back I convinced my steward to try our hand at distilling. This is the result." He closed his eyes and turned sad. "1340, that was the year Shani died."

"Your wife?"

"No, but a good friend. For a while we have been together, but in the end she wanted something different. A normal life, kids, and not to have to wait with bated breath for bad news every time I left the house. But we have been friends till the end. Shani even made me godfather of her oldest. Can you imagine?" Shepard actually could. "She was a healer, a very good and compassionate one. Tali reminds me of her."

"Is that why you're so protective of our little quota Quarian?" It was obvious that Geralt had no romantic interest in Tali but he behaved like a big brother more often than not. And more than once, Shepard noticed that look on Geralt as if he was seeing someone else in her place.

Geralt nodded curtly. "She's a good girl. I'm convinced she'll do some good for her people in the future, that she'll make a difference. She has the drive and the talent to do so. But first she has to survive until then."

For a while, they relished the Cognac in silence. Geralt didn't ask, he simply waited, and after a while Shepard started to talk about Edolus. How someone had prepared the trap and had been vile enough to place cameras and sensors around the area to get a good footing of the battle. How they only survived because Kaidan was a whiz with in-field repairs of the Mako and Ashley was a hell of a shot with the turret gun. They still had nearly died and Garrus would have to work day and night until their arrival on Therum to get the vehicle back on line. There was nothing more to say. Geralt had no doubt that Shepard would do everything to get the culprits, and Shepard knew that Geralt would help him break some legs when they got them. _When, not if_.

"Speaking of Ashley, why don't you get along with her?" Shepard changed the topic after a while.

"Why do you ask? Concerned about your girlfriend?" Geralt smirked without humour.

"She's not my girlfriend." Geralt grinned as Shepard actually blushed a little.

"Why not? I mean, I don't like her all that much but that doesn't mean I can't appreaciate her beauty and spirit. She's clever, she's driven to prove herself and she's a real soldier, just like you. It's like someone especially brewed her to become your mate."

"Sounds as if you would like to date her." Shepard teased, unwilling to give an honest answer.

"Not my type," Geralt responded. The real reason he couldn't tell. He wasn't ready to bare his soul. How he was still not over Triss' death, even after more than fifty years. He knew that Triss would have hated to see him like this, mourning her instead of enjoying his life. Didn't change how he felt. There had been women after Triss, flings and one-night stands, but never again had he allowed a woman to get close to him in a romantic way. And Ashley didn't deserve to be just a fling.

"So, you didn't answer my question."

"Why I don't get along with her?" Shepard nodded. Now it was his turn to wait. Geralt sighed, gulping down another shot of Cognac.

"Back home, it was not unlike your Earth in the Middle Ages: Empires and Kingdoms, small and big, Churches and Nobles, filth and hunger, rampaging soldiers and starving peasants. Two things were different however: we had not only humans but others races as well, the most prominent being elves and dwarves. And we had so-called monsters. Some of them were nothing more than mindless creatures, always hungry and aggressive. Others only tried to live and let live, be it hidden among the humans or out in the wilds. Some of them were evil, others not more so than your run-of-the-mill neighbour, some dumb and others quite intelligent. One of my best friends was a dwarf. He was a good guy, a great friend, and loyal without bounds. I met mass-murderers and fanatics. I met humans that killed everyone who was different, and elves that shot every human because they had only experienced their hate in the past.

"My wife Triss once got tortured by a human simply because she was … she was something like a biotic. The Church in that city wanted to burn them all, and her captor tortured her because he wanted her to betray the others. She willingly succumbed to that torture to give me the time I needed to free a friend of ours – a friend that wasn't even human." Geralt sighed and gulped down the rest of his Cognac. "My kind has been created because we were needed for a while. We were Monster hunters, the only one able to do the job. Didn't mean they liked us. Freaks they called us or mutants. They didn't know how much we sacrificed, how many of us died in the rituals that gave us our powers." He looked up. "How many humans wish for biotic powers, having some childish imagination about godlike powers? How many would still wish for it if they knew that barely a third of the applicants survived ritual and education? How many would be willing to give up a normal life and any hope to ever get children?"

"Not many I think," Shepard agreed. "You can't have children?"

"Sterile, one of the miracles of my kind; at least I don't have to wonder about some bastards of mine running around." It had been one of the reasons why Shani had left him. She became a wonderful mother and immensely beloved grandmother, the kind the grandchildren turned to in those times of _I hate my parents_ and _nobody loves me_. He grinned weakly.

"I don't know how many monsters I hunted over the years: Undead, Dragons, and predators of all kind. Name something from Earth's myths and you can be certain I met it. Most often I had to kill them. Sometimes I was able to bring peace to a damned soul. Far too rarely, I was able to save a life. Once, I got paid by the army to put down a Gryphon murdering their soldiers, only to learn that he simply was mad with grief. They had killed his mate in her sleep and he only wanted revenge like any human would. For more than a century, I was friends with an Elder Vampire, so educated and patient it would make the most venerable hermit look like a spoiled brat. I met good and bad people both human and others. I had to learn that neither race, gender, skin colour nor religion is a guarantee for being honourable.

"Back to your question," Geralt looked angry for the first time since their talk started. "Ashley Williams doesn't understand this. In her eyes, non-humans aren't trustworthy. It is _us against them_ in her eyes. She expects them to betray us sooner or later. Right now, I trust Garrus and Tali more than her, would prefer to have them at my back any time. She may tell you about not being a racist as often as she wants to. In my eyes, she's just that and as long as she doesn't understand the unfairness of her opinion, how much it hurts our mission and opposes every hope of ever getting lasting peace between the races, I won't get along with her."

.

 _ **Therum – Nova Yekatarinburg**_

.

"You have to be careful around there," Captain Jones explained. He was the leader of the small militia detachment on Therum. With about 30,000 planet inhabitants, two thirds of them living in Nova, he had only two companies of poorly equipped militia soldiers at his command, and only the capital had any noteworthy space defence. "The site you're looking for is a former mine. There has been tectonic activity in the past and a couple of cave-ins a few years ago. One of them actually revealed the Prothean Ruin Dr T'Soni is examining now. Landing isn't allowed around the place. The nearest landing space is small station 5 miles away."

"How many inhabitants?"

"Around one hundred at the station, half that number at the digging site. Two thirds of them scientists, mostly Human and Asari, and a small security squad. Last contact has been two days ago. I sent a team for investigation but they went mute as well near the station. If you want to go there, I would like Sergeant Manders and his men to accompany you."

"Alright, tell him to be ready in thirty."

"He will."

.

"Someone is jamming our sensors around the station."

"Weird," Manders looked thoughtful. "They have only a small communication centre down there, nothing able to do this." He was a grizzled veteran with a leather skin, certainly no beauty contest material but he seemed to know his job.

"I recognize this kind of jamming signals," Tali drily commented. _Geth_.

Shepard understood without words. He activated the comm. "Garrus, ready the Mako. Kaidan, Ashley: you're with Garrus. Wrex, Geralt, be ready for a little ground action." Turning towards Tali he added: "You're with us. Manders, you know how to handle a rocket launcher?" Manders frowned but nodded. "Get down to the armoury. You'll need something with a bit more Boom."

Shepard grimaced. In moments, the simple fetch and deliver mission got far more interesting. Now the only question was: did T'Soni and those Geth work together or not?

.

Geralt danced around the Geth Destroyer's gunfire while punching a gaping hole through a Trooper's chest with his Aard sign. Without the Yrden's slowing effect even his superhuman reflexes wouldn't have been fast enough. Unlike Wrex, who was unfazed by those few shots that bypassed his shields and armour, he had to avoid the gunfire. His feeble shields wouldn't protect him for long otherwise. A mighty roar to the left announced the destruction of another shock trooper by Wrex hands – quite literally this time as he had ripped off the head of some poor trooper after shooting his legs off with his shotgun. On the right flank, a quadruped armature was occupied by Mander's team while Tali frantically worked on deactivating its shield. Despite all the mayhem around them, Shepard used the moment to have a good look at the – mostly non-existent – teamwork. Only Mander's soldiers really worked together. Wrex, Geralt and Tali on the other hand acted more like solo fighters who only by chance were in the same area. Especially Wrex and Geralt were obviously used to fight on their own. _We really have to work on that part_.

"All turrets down," Kaidan announced from the perimeter. While Shepard's team purged the station itself, the Mako had been cleaning the landing zone. The Geth had hacked the small number of gun turrets, a danger they had to pacify before turning towards the archaeological site. So far, they had found more than thirty cadavers among the buildings. Luckily, the greater rest of the crew had been able to flee the station as the Geth arrived, and now were hiding in the surrounding hills.

"Sergeant Manders, start rounding up the refugees. Pressley, tell Captain Jones that we need aircrafts for evacuating the survivors. He'll need medics as well, I assume. Kaidan, scout ahead. We'll follow as soon as the station is save. And Kaidan: no heroics."

Geralt ducked down, listening to the slugs passing overhead. Another Aard, this one to freeze the Destroyer's arm. _Thanks Dr Moreau for this improvement_ , he grinned. As far as he knew he was the only Witcher able to use Aard like that. For a moment the Destroyer was helpless. It would only last for a few seconds, but it was more than enough time to channel his Igni, a line of superhot flames engulfing the Destroyer's head, melting the thick armour plates and frying his electronic brain. Concentrated fire by Mander's team brought down the Armature only seconds later, leaving only a handful of Troopers for them to clean up.

 _All in a day's work_ , Geralt grinned, _reminds me of old times_. He glanced around. Everybody was alright so far. _We were lucky so far. Hopefully it will last_.

.

It had been too peaceful, but Geralt and his comrades had enjoyed the calm before the new storm hit them with its full might. To get them around, Shepard had confiscated a small tracked lorry, formerly used to transport equipment. It was moderately fast but completely unarmoured and unarmed. With the Mako ahead they still felt relatively save. This ended when they had to leave them behind a quarter mile from the entrance. The way ahead was too narrow for the Mako and Shepard wasn't willing to risk his team in an unprotected vehicle. So, they continued on foot, with Wrex taking point, Shepard and Ashley covering their flanks. There was a small number of Geth visible near the entrance but aside from them the path appeared non-dangerous.

"There are more Geth," Geralt suddenly announced. "Small, crawling," he frowned. Unlike the rest of the team he wore no helmet. It allowed him to use his senses to its maximum, but he had no head protection at all. This was only one reason why Shepard had hounded him to exchange his leather armour for a more modern one. Geralt had been able to stall it so far, but he knew he would have to comply sooner or later.

"Sure? There is nothing to see."

"I don't get anything," Tali added. "But there are still jamming signals blocking my sensors."

Geralt nodded slowly, concentrating on his far improved senses. A spot of heat, a small movement and some scraping metal on metal, more he didn't need to detect them. "I detect four or five of them, two on the scaffold ahead, and the others somewhere to the left between the caskets."

"Garrus, assist Ashley on the left. Wrex…"

"I'm ready," the big Krogan growled. So far, he didn't detect any of those supposed opponents, but he was willing to trust this weird human with his particular biotics.

A roar in the air announced the arrival of a small Geth dropship that passed overhead. The sound distracted them long enough for the five hidden Geth Hopper to leave their hideouts and start the attack. Actually only four of them were able to do this. Geralt, the only one who knew exactly where the Geth were hiding, hit one of them with a piercing bolt from his crossbow through the head before he even hit the ground. Luckily, the Hopper had no shields, nothing to stop the projectile. Garrus wasn't much slower and despite their agility and speed the Hopper were no match for his deadly accuracy. Only moments after the fight started, the Geth near the entrance left their post and joined the fray.

"Fuck!" Tali screamed. "Colossus, attention, they have a Colossus."

The Geth dropship hadn't landed but simply kicked of another handful of Geth, one of them a hulking Geth Prime. They were arranged around a big metal packet that now started to unfurl into something similar to the well-known Armature, only much bigger and more dangerous looking. Shepard knew that even Wrex wouldn't survive a direct hit from its main gun. They had to knock it out and fast. Geralt was already running towards the danger, far faster than Shepard was able to follow. Ashley and Garrus put down the last two Hoppers, while Wrex followed his commander with a mighty roar.

"I take care of the Prime," Tali shouted, her three fingered hand flying on her Omni tool.

Geralt hurled something towards the three Geth on the left of the Colossus. The following explosion rocked them, blinding them for a precious three seconds. With the Prime unmoving so far, it left only one Geth who attacked Geralt. Luckily, it was only a shabby trooper, his fire not enough to get through his shield. The Witcher reciprocated with a pair of bolts. Their magic allowed them to pierce the weak shield of the Geth, something the machine certainly hadn't expected. It had no time to learn from its error, as two small explosions ripped its right arm and head off. While he had agreed to wear a modern sidearm as well, Geralt still trusted his crossbow more than any rifle. It was a weird contraption, a double-shot weapon with two small underside drums, each holding six bolts. It was still slower than any assault rifle, but far more effective than any crossbow Shepard had seen before. Shepard lifted the trio of stunned Geth with his biotics, throwing them one after the other into the Colossus to distract it from Geralt and whatever the man had planned to do.

The group of Geth from the entrance was nearly close enough now to butt into the fight, but at last the Prime, now under Tali's firm control, whirled around and opened fire. It was neither accurate nor effective but certainly distracting them for a while. Around the Colossus and the recovering Geth, the familiar Yrden field sprang into existence. It slowed down the Colossus, allowing Geralt to run circles around the machine like a mad dervish. Aard – it wasn't strong enough to freeze the flexible gun-head of the machine, but slowed it down even further. Not for the first time, Kaidan promised himself to speak with Geralt about his strange biotics. Some of them weren't unlike his own abilities or those of Wrex, but that slowing field looked very effective and the freezing as well.

Not really believing their own eyes, Shepard and Wrex put down the remaining Geth as fast as they could, while Geralt started to pepper the Colossus' leg with his Igni. His fire proved not strong enough to burn through the heavy plating, the Colossus being far more protected from such attacks than a mere trooper or even a destroyer. This left only one strategy, omitting the deployment of a rocket launcher. Tossing the crossbow aside, he drew his sword. Increasing his speed, he hurled another freezing Aard at the Colossus' head and moved in.

"What is he trying to…" Shepard's eyes widened as the sword cut through one of the legs like it was some rotten wooden beam. A second leg followed and the Colossus lost its stance. Its head was still wildly firing – and mostly hitting the ground or harmlessly illuminating the air – it mimicked a beetle on its back. With only the Prime still standing from the horde of Geth, the group had time to watch Geralt put the Colossus out of its misery. He looked a little like some medieval dragon slayer – and according to the story he had been just that in the past – as he took a grip of his sword with both hands and beheaded the Colossus with a mighty strike. The light left the machine's eyes and every motion ended.

"Not bad for a puny human," Wrex roared, sounding a little jealous. "Really not bad."

.

Geralt wanted to throw up. For a moment, his hand moved towards the pocket where he usually kept a hipflask. With a disappointed growl he stopped himself. Tali had confiscated it before they left the Normandy. Sometimes he really hated her. Stepping over another corpse, he followed Shepard down the ramp. So far, they found around fifteen dead, mostly humans and only a handful with any kind of weapon. They others had simply been shot while on the run. Why would anybody do this? What was the reason? Geth were without emotions, according to Tali. So, this couldn't even be the result of bloodlust. Shepard didn't trust the slightly smoking lift, so they had to follow the ramp that meandered down to the ground three floors below.

From time to time, they had heard someone shooting but so far met nobody. Garrus had been able to hack into the security system – he had been clever enough to ask Captain Jones about the codes before they left Nova. The result was a bit disturbing: the Geth were searching for Asari, not to kill but to catch them. There were mostly Troopers and Shock Troopers around, the corridors not high enough for a Prime to navigate them. A pair of Destroyers filled the heavy hitter role, not that they needed it. While some of the Asari seemed to have some basic combat training, they simply lacked in the armour and weapons department. Most of them surrendered quite fast, and now they were herding them towards a location that kept nothing of interest according to the base's data.

"They have a Krogan?" Ashley narrowed her eyes and glared at Wrex.

The warlord shrugged, before turning to Geralt. "This one is mine."

"Only if you're fast enough, old man," Geralt smirked. He had been happy to hear that Wrex was far older than him and could relay to the feeling of surviving most friends. Geralt wasn't as close to the Krogan as he was with Garrus, but they respected each other.

"He actually seems to lead them," Kaidan noticed. "I suppose it's his intention to herd them together for … whatever he has in mind."

"Hostages," Garrus suggested. "Or he doesn't know exactly how Dr T'Soni looks like and wants to be on the save side."

"That would mean T'Soni isn't all that cooperative, else he only had to ask," Shepard concluded. Perhaps they were lucky. Perhaps they could convince Dr T'Soni to cooperate and reveal something interesting about her mother, why she was working with Saren.

"We'll know soon enough."

.

A shot pierced the silence, followed by a scream of pain. They were close to the ground now, with Tali running interference to any sensors warning the Geth of their approach. A couple of Asari were already in sight, bound and gagged, with fear in their eyes and guarded by some Geth Troopers.

"Deactivate the force field, else I'll put the next shot through her brain," the Krogan demanded. Someone sobbed and got kicked in return. She screamed in pain, only to receive another kick, this one apparently knocking her out.

"Why are you doing this? What have we done to you?" The voice was that of a younger Asari. _T'Soni?_ Shepard wondered. He distributed his team gesturing towards the positions he wanted them in. They had to be careful in their attack. He had no intention to turn this into a blood bath.

"They were in the way. Listen, T'Soni, I'm only interested in you. I've a job to do, and my job is to get you and bring you somewhere safe. Why don't you make it easier for all of us and surrender? This gets boring very fast." He sighed and shot the unconscious Asari on the ground.

"NOOO!"

"Next one," the Krogan commanded a Geth, pointing towards an Asari scientist that nearly fainted.

"Wait, wait," T'Soni begged.

The Krogan grinned broadly, but stopped the Geth with a gesture. He looked quite funny, bent-forward and one hand around the Asari's arm, now stock still like some frozen statue. "I'm waiting," the Krogan mocked.

"How can I be certain that you won't shoot them afterwards?"

"You can't." He sighed again. "I'm still waiting, and I'm not a patient Krogan."

And Shepard wasn't patient as well. Time to act.

.

"I said he's mine," Wrex growled and for a moment Kaidan feared for Geralt's health.

The Witcher looked completely unfazed by the irate Krogan who was leaning onto him. "And I told you he's only yours if you're fast enough. Newsflash: you were not." He smirked. "It's certainly about the age. Perhaps it's time for a bit of pensioner respite."

"I give you pensioner," Wrex harrumphed. "Perhaps I should simply break your legs next time. See how fast you can run then." He kicked the smoking corpse of the Krogan. With Kaidan rescuing the Asaris and Tali doing her best to disorient the Geth, Wrex had been exchanging blows with the other Krogan. Both were Warlords, learned in the use of weapons and biotics, and so the fight had lasted long enough for Shepard and Garrus to put down the bulk of the Geth, with Geralt using his signs to hinder their resistance, his sword cutting through any arm, weapon or leg he got close enough. Wrex had been able to overpower his opponent, hurled him against a wall with a couple of warp attacks, and just opened his broad mouth to mock him, as Geralt used the opportunity to hit the Krogan with a close-up Igni, burning him to ashes with the Krogan's regeneration unable to rescue him. Since then, Wrex and Geralt had nearly come to blows, watched closely by Kaidan in case his medical skills were needed.

"Dr T'Soni, I'm Commander Shepard. You're needed on the Citadel about an ongoing investigation."

"Why should I trust you?" For a moment, Shepard regretted that he hadn't waited a bit longer for the good doctor to deactivate the shield.

"What kind of shield is this anyhow?" He asked. "I've never seen this kind before."

"It belongs to the Prothean base," Dr T'Soni responded. She was kind of proud that she had been able to reach this spot in time and activate the machine. Not many of her colleagues would have been able to do the same, but she wasn't a Prothean specialist for nothing. "What kind of investigation?"

"It's about a Prothean Beacon we found on Eden Prime." As long as she didn't ask he wanted to omit her mother's part in it. You never knew how the girl reacted. "Dr Warren needs your expertise." Kaidan lifted a single eyebrow. He remembered quite well the sad state of the beacon after the explosion Saren had prepared for them like a booby trap. There wasn't much to examine anymore.

"I know of her," T'Soni admitted, feeling giddy about the prospect of examining an actual Prothean Beacon. "Alright, I'll accompany you. But first we have to take care of my colleagues."

.

"This is a pile of junk." Dr T'Soni was obviously a tad annoyed and agitated. They had left behind Therum after transporting the other Asaris to Nova. Now, they were on route to the Citadel, among others to deliver the proof they found on Edolus.

"There may have been a little explosion involved," Shepard admitted sheepishly.

T'Soni glowered. "And what you expect me to do? Repair it?"

"I wanted to speak with you about the message I got from the beacon before it blew up," Shepard was dead serious now, his words certainly earning him Liara's interest. "I want to speak about the Conduit, about why a Turian Spectre is looking for it and why he needs your help, needs it direly enough to send a platoon of Geth to massacre the whole station only to get you." He narrowed his eyes and watched her warily. "What do you know, Dr T'Soni that makes you so precious to him?"

 _._

 _ **A/N**_

 _So, Geralt told a bit about his past and why he doesn't like Ashley. Actually, I'm a fan of her in ME, but I never liked her slight racism and how she tried to reason it._


	3. Chapter 3 Father Kyle

_**A/N**_

 _A bit shorter and a bit later than intended, but now at last chapter 3. The schedule of my other story (Two is a crowd) has precedence, but I'll try to publish a chapter of this one every two weeks as well._

 _I was thinking about giving Geralt an „inner voice", perhaps a „Yennefer" that's permanently scolding him or a Dandelion praising his heroics. My son dissuaded me from doing this, thinking it would become boring or annoying very fast. What's your opinion about it?_

.

 **Father Kyle**

.

 _ **Normandy – on their way back to the Citadel**_

.

Liara felt nervous, she had to admit. Right now, she felt like a lamb surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. Wasn't that the human saying? Interestingly, the physically most intimidating participant of this little get together was the only one not showing open mistrust. Actually, Urdnot Wrex as the Krogan called himself, seemed to be bored if anything. The Quarian's face was invisible because of her mask but her stance exuded the same reservations that were plainly visible on the faces of Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian and especially Ashley Williams. Only the last two humans, Kaidan and Geralt, at least tried to look neutral and offered a soothing smile now and then.

"How close are you to your mother? What do you know about her political aims and her allies? Have you ever met the ex-Spectre Saren?" The questions were like rapid-fire of an execution squad, and Liara felt a little overwhelmed by them.

"I'm not very close to her, not since I left Thessia to examine a couple of Prothean ruins years ago. We have barely been on speaking terms for the last two decades, mostly because I'm not interested in politics like she wished me to. My mother Benezia wanted me to belong to her entourage of Acolytes, but I chose a different path. It never pleased me to only be seen as Benezia's daughter. Far too often, people had tried to befriend me only to get near to her. It would only have intensified with me following her steps. I wanted to be respected for my own deeds. She tried to approve but her behaviour still got frostier over the years and we drifted apart."

"And still you had three long distance calls from her over the past weeks," Kaidan interjected.

"Just before a platoon of Geth visited Therum and tried to slaughter the whole team," Commander Shepard added angrily. "Just a coincidence?"

Liara gaped like a fish. "You monitored me?"

Shepard rolled his eyes. "We simply had to ask Therum security. Now answer the question. What were you speaking about with your mother?"

"Why should I tell you?" Liara pouted, for the first time showing that despite her age she still was a very young Asari.

"Because…" Ashley started with a grumble, only to feel herself stopped by Kaidan's calming gesture.

"Dr T'Soni," he explained. "The former Spectre Saren got dismissed because of his crimes against humanity on Eden Prime. He's now a hunted Turian, wanted for hundredfold murder and the attempted bombing of a settlement with tactical nuclear weapons. Your mother is supposedly his accomplice in this."

Liara gasped, swaying slightly. Geralt steadied her and she nodded thankfully. "That can't be. My mother would never be a part of such occurrences. She cares for every sentient being irrespective of the race."

"We have proof, Dr T'Soni," Kaidan continued with a caring but determined voice. Shepard stayed silent for now, as he had the feeling Kaidan's softer manners would get the Asari to open up where his harsher language would only cause her to clam up. "Your mother was in close contact with Saren, a man who led Geth onto Eden Prime and personally killed another Spectre. We assume it was the same Saren that ordered his Geth to abduct you." It needed more proof, especially a couple of pictures from the massacre on Eden Prime and Tali playing her recording of the Saren-Benezia conversation to convince Liara. Watching her crumble under the truth was an ugly sight. It was enough to convince even Ashley that Liara hadn't known about this and to get Tali close the gap to Liara and hug her for comfort.

Only then was Liara willing to speak about her conversations with her mother.

.

"So she wanted you to visit her, supposedly because she needed your expert knowledge about Prothean?"

"Yes," Liara laughed without humour. "Can you imagine? For decades she cut me out of my life because I chose to become an archaeologist, and when she breaks the silence at last, it is exactly that decision which prompts her to speak to me again."

"Did she tell you what exactly she wanted from you?"

"At first not; only that she was in need of an expert who is trustworthy; that I wouldn't be allowed to speak about it for a while. She looked exhausted, jaded even. The second conversation I had with Shiala mostly. She is one of my mother's favourites, has been her acolyte for more than two hundred years. For a while she had even been my tutor. Shiala was very convincing but there was this glint in her eyes, this fanatism. It's something I have seen with more than one of her followers and it's something that only pushed me away."

"Conviction is a good thing, but fanatism often turns into something dangerous," Geralt supplied softly.

"Yes," Liara agreed. "Fanatism suppresses arguments and discussions, replaces them with silent obedience. Within my mother's entourage only her word is law. You're with her or you're wrong. There is no grey."

"Not something I would like for myself."

"For me neither," Liara admitted. "So, I denied her a second time."

"And the last conversation?"

"She was even more urgent. My mother told me, she found a beacon and needed my help with the deciphering."

"I suppose she was speaking about the beacon we found as well, the beacon that is destroyed now," Shepard calmly interjected.

"But how could she expect me to decipher anything if the beacon is destroyed?"

"The beacon, before it exploded," Shepard started slowly. "It somehow connected itself to my brain."

Liara gasped. "That's dangerous. Those beacons weren't built for the minds of humans – or Asari."

"I can confirm that, "Shepard humourlessly replied. "The headache was hellish."

"But you got information from the beacon?"

"Yes, pictures, sounds, it was a kind of vision from the days the Protheans got destroyed by some unknown foe. It was very confusing, fragmented."

"We assume that Saren was able to get the same information," Dr Warren interjected. "Perhaps they needed you to decipher those pictures." She sighed. "I haven't been very helpful at it so far. It's difficult for Commander Shepard to describe those impressions in a comprehensible way. I expect it to be the same with Saren. But you are not only a Prothean specialist but an Asari as well. With your ability to meld your mind with Commander Shepard…"

"Certainly not," Ashely stopped her angrily. "We still can't know for sure if Dr T'Soni can be trusted."

"But you can," Liara pleaded.

"I trust her," Tali stated.

"I as well," Geralt supported her. He had a good feeling with this Asari. She was trustworthy if more than a little naïve.

Shepard thought about it for a moment. Ashley was prejudiced, Tali naïve, but Geralt's opinion meant something to him. The Witcher was older than any other present, Wrex aside. He had more than a little experience with other races as well. "We'll give it a try."

.

 _ **Citadel – Normandy docking station**_

.

"Welcome on board, Chief Bathia," Commander Shepard greeted the newest addition to the crew.

Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams was waiting at the back, grinning madly and nearly tripping over her own feet in her wish to greet her friend. While Shepard had agreed to commandeer Ashely's former second, it had been unclear if Alliance Command complied with his wishes and if Nirali would recover soon enough. And now she was here, looking well if a little pale, freshly promoted to Service Chief and willing to take over Squad 1, replacing the late Corporal Jenkins. With the addition of Squad 2 – the four-man-team under Corporal Pallio had arrived the day before – it had become necessary to have a Chief in command of the Marine detachment on-board. Ashley, now officially armourer of the ship, was no official part of that detachment, allowing her to behave more at ease around her "old" friend.

"Chief Williams, please show around our newest crewmember and make her feel welcome," he showed a hint of a smile as he watched the duo depart. Williams had no idea about the recommendation he had delivered to Admiral Hacket – a recommendation to rectify an omission and promote her at last. In Shepard's eyes it was about time. Ashley had told him about her grandfather and his difficult legacy. It was shabby to punish her for something her grandfather did – regardless of whether his decision on Shanxi had been the right one or not.

"You should tell her," Geralt whispered.

"Why do you care?" Jebediah growled. "You don't like her." He didn't even try to deny his feelings, not anymore and not towards Geralt at least.

"Perhaps I want to punish you," Geralt smirked, shaking away the picture of those cornflower blue eyes that haunted him. Turning serious he continued. "I have hope for her. She has been spending more time with Tali and Garrus these days. I think she's starting to respect them. Perhaps, one day she'll trust them as well." As Jebediah moved to walk away, Geralt caught his arm. "I've been with Triss for more than fifty years, and still I regret every single day I've been hiding my feelings from her. Don't make the same error." Left alone, Jebediah was struggling to keep his emotions under control. He wanted to scream at Geralt for his audacity to tell him what to do. He wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that it was lust only and nothing more he felt for Ashley. In the end, he did neither. He couldn't, not when he knew deep down that Geralt was right. He had only known Ashley for a month, but already he couldn't imagine anymore a Normandy without her. Their conversations about their beliefs, about what it meant to be a soldier and poetry of all things – those conversations were the one thing he really appreciated. They kept him human after a long day of paperwork and even more so after a combat mission. Their talk after Eden Prime, speaking about Jenkins and Ashley's team, had been very emotional. It had been soul cleansing.

Perhaps Geralt was right. Jebediah sighed. _I'll wait a bit more. Let's say two weeks, a month at most. Then, I'll speak with her. Promise!_

.

One crewmember comes, another one goes. With Dr Liara T'Soni a new and welcome addition – even Ashley had nothing to say against the Asari's competence, only continued to urge Shepard against the offered melding – Dr Warren had decided to leave the Normandy again. Initially, she wanted to return to Eden Prime and to continue her old work, despite her colleague still recovering in one of the hospitals of the Citadel. However, Liara had offered Dr Warren her own old job on Therum. The digging site was still intact and with the Geth gone it was secure again. Clearing work was still underway, but the digging site was bigger and more interesting than the one on Eden Prime – at least now with the Beacon gone. Dr Warren had been happy to agree and spent her last days on the ship exchanging notes with Dr T'Soni. Now she was gone.

The material they found on Edolus was gone as well, delivered to Admiral Kahoku. Shepard hoped for some news about the culprits and soon, but so far the Shadow Broker had been careful not to reveal too much. Shepard couldn't decide if it was prudence or greed that caused the Broker's hesitation. Hopefully, he would decide in their favour. But for now, Shepard had another matter to address. He was on his way to Captain Anderson, with Geralt and Kaidan accompanying him. Anderson had personally demanded both to be there, giving no special reason why he wanted to see them. The trio of biotics – he was a bit deliberate with that description of Geralt's abilities but he really hated to use the word magic – had been training together for the last days. It had been interesting to watch the others in action.

The trio of biotics now had a better grasp of the others' abilities and limitations. The most serious drawback of Geralt's "signs" as he called them was their very limited range. None of them reached farther than a dozen steps, making him more vulnerable in open fights. Added to this there was the matter of his old armour and lack of modern firearms. His crossbow was impressive but Shepard would have felt better with Geralt hitching at least some kind of shotgun. And an airtight set of armour with at least a modicum of protection. Simply to annoy him, Geralt had appeared at one of their training sessions wearing a set of plate armour – a god-damned set of golden plate armour, 60 pounds of leather and steel, clinking and blinking like some 1950s Ivanhoe actor. Shepard had no idea from which pocket Geralt was able to draw such a thing in the first place. He had boarded the Normandy with a backpack only, not even big enough to hide his crossbow. One bonus of those sessions had been an idea he got from Geralt.

"I had a good friend. She was an incredible sword fighter but had not a hint of talent with the crossbow and never used a shield, meaning she had to get close to her opponents as fast as possible. She learned this trick. Using her magic … I mean her biotics," he emphasized the term with a broad grin "to charge her enemies really fast. She was able to traverse a distance of twenty, twenty-five yards in under a second. I have no idea how she was able doing this, but perhaps you could learn it as well." It certainly would be a practical trick to know and he had working on it with Kaidan and Liara, who had a better grasp of the theory behind biotics. So far, he was unable to "charge" – at least in a reliable way – but he was working on it.

"Commander, Lt Alenko, Geralt," Anderson greeted them quite cordially and offered seats and drinks – with Geralt declining politely but not without a longing glance. After some small talk, Shepard's former captain suddenly addressed Geralt. "I heard you got a message from Major Kyle."

Geralt looked a little confused, Shepard angry – even more as he noticed Kaidan nervously wiggling around. "You're keeping tabs on Geralt? With Alenko's assistance?" Kaidan paled a little but tried to appear unimpressed – and failing at it. Shepard rarely addressed him by his last name. It was a sign of his fury. There would be some harsh conversation later.

"Naturally I do," Anderson calmly replied. "We know nothing about him apart from that unbelievable story about a world unknown to us, still in the middle ages and with its own brand of biotics. The brass thinks that Geralt is some kind of experiment and a spy of some so far unidentified faction."

"And you still allow me to stay on the Normandy?" Geralt wondered loudly. He wasn't really surprised they didn't believe him. Sometimes he was doubtful himself about his past being real and not some kind of drug-induced dream. He had certainly used more than enough of those in the past, not to speak of his alcohol consumption.

"You wouldn't be allowed to stay on an Alliance ship, but the Normandy belongs to Shepard now, so it's his decision. Doesn't stop the brass from keeping an eye on you and your contacts."

"And now you're interested in some message I got days ago, a message that I dumped minutes after reading it?"

"Who is this Major Kyle?" Shepard asked, struggling to keep his calm.

"He's a leader of a community of Biotics," Kaidan responded. "Has been an Alliance officer until Torfan. Now he's living in the Hawking Eta Cluster, Centaury System."

"And he sent you a message, Geralt?"

The Witcher frowned. "If I remember correctly he invited me, wanted me to join his community. Something about biotics have to stick together and how much we would be able to learn from each other. The message was a bit rambling. I had the impression that someone told him about me and my little stunt on the Citadel. He said that I was in danger." Geralt smirked, glancing at Shepard. "No surprise there, with you around and attracting danger like a cup of honey would bees."

"And you didn't tell us?"

He shrugged. "Why should I? Don't know this Kyle and had no interest in joining some community in a system I never heard about."

"Apparently the brass is interested in him," Shepard narrowed his eyes, staring at Anderson. "Else you would hardly have called us."

"There have been rumours about Major Kyle expanding his community. He's gathering money, equipment and man power, and we have no idea of his aims. The brass sent someone to investigate, but they never returned. We have no jurisdiction on Centaury, and we don't want to instigate a diplomatic mess with sending a military expedition."

"So, you want me to get to Centaury, tell Kyle that I'm interested and have a closer look?" Geralt guessed.

"You can't be serious," Shepard exclaimed.

"It's the best thing we can do," Kaidan stated.

"We?" Shepard growled. "You mean the best thing the Alliance can do. We aren't Alliance anymore, Alenko. You are not Alliance anymore. You now belong to SPECTRE. It would be better if you don't forget it anymore. Next time you feel the urge to pass confidential information to the Alliance, simply don't." He glared at Anderson now. "Else I'll kick you from the ship faster than you're able to put on your shoes." Shepard turned around. "Are we clear about this?"

Kaidan fumed, his jaws were clenched. "We are clear, Commander," he hissed.

"Good!"

For a while, an awkward silence reigned in the office, before Geralt accepted the task. "I'll do this. If Shepard is alright with the detour, I'll go to Centaury and have a look."

Shepard looked thoughtful for a while, pondering the idea and if it would delay his main duty. They were still waiting on news about Saren, and the Alliance had been helpful in the past. In the end he agreed as well and nodded slowly. "Tell us more about this community, Anderson."

.

 _ **Centaury System**_

.

"Nearing Centaury," Joker announced.

"Roger," Kaidan responded. He was sitting in a small shuttle they got from the Alliance, a private shuttle without any links to the fleet. They would use the shuttle to approach the community while the Normandy intended to follow in stealth mode and land nearby; _they_ being Geralt and Kaidan, with Wrex as their backup. He not only had impressive combat abilities but also centuries of experiences with battling all kind of biotics.

Carefully, Kaidan steered the shuttle out of the Normandy's hangar – a hangar that barely fitted the small shuttle. Not for the first time, Shepard wished for a slightly bigger ship, but the stealth system had been the limiting factor. They even had to leave behind their Mako – or Makos, as he got a second one out of the deal. Therum had shown him the benefits of two armoured vehicles, to have the tactical option of choosing a stronger team and even split it up in case. The Shuttle crossed Centaury Station, the only spaceport of the planet, and approached the community. It was hidden in canyon 20 miles south of the spaceport, in a real maze of small mountains, canyons and caves big enough to hide several villages. One of them was actually hiding something, as the Normandy's sensors had told them. Something big, perhaps a ship, more they had been unable to decipher.

"Requesting landing permission," Kaidan called the community. There was a small landing area, barely big enough for their shuttle and the other one already waiting there.

"Permission denied, you're not welcome." Was the unfriendly answer.

Geralt activated his own comm. Luckily, he had learned how to handle it, even if he was still very slow and had to think about every single step. Tali had been a bit impatient with his progress. "I'm Geralt of Rivia from the Citadel. I got an invitation from Father Kyle."

For a while there was only silence. They curved around the community and waited for another response. Then It came and far friendlier than before. "Landing permission granted. You're expected, Geralt of Rivia."

Kaidan landed the shuttle and opened the hatch. "And now the interesting part begins."

.

 _ **Two days later**_

.

"They're hiding something."

Geralt agreed to that statement. It was plain obvious actually. Those biotics were awful actors. For two days Kaidan and Geralt had been living with them. They were nice enough, sharing their meals, exchanging stories and offering their help in every way. Geralt heard a couple of stomach-turning stories about their childhood and training, how their parents had been forced – through law or peer-pressure – to part with them. There even had been a number of local witch-hunts. The training hadn't been much better, and perhaps Geralt would have doubted the worst of those stories if not for Kaidan's expression proving them right. One of the inhabitants, a medic specialising in treating biotics, had been especially helpful for Kaidan, giving hints about possible treatment of his migraine – both with medication and otherwise. They were researching ways of enhancing L2 implants as well, especially to dampen the bad side effects, but so far hadn't been especially successful with that endeavour.

On the other hand, they had been a bit too helpful to go unnoticed. They obviously had the task of making them feel accepted and welcome, to convince Geralt and Kaidan to stay around for good. There were a surprising number of especially friendly women around them all the time, some of them beautiful enough to be a little distracting. Geralt was actually used to such things. Even realistically speaking, there had been dozens of women in his long life, some of them belonging to the most beautiful creatures of his home world, who tried to seduce him, offer him physical pleasures to get him do their wet work. And more than one ruler tried to bribe him with women or at least attempted to "lighten him up" with a group of dancers and concubines. So, it was hardly a new experience to it. Only the level of the women's experience was something to behold. Those community members were hardly skilled and trained Hetaerae. What they assumed to be seductive and enticing, made him mostly smile and he was hard pressed not to humiliate them with gales of laughter.

Kaidan on the other hand was a bit naïve and new to such things. It was funny to watch him squirm under their attention, trying to get rid – as polite as possible – of another woman offering a dazzling smile and some "conversation". And then there were the silent watchers. Every time one of them left their cabin, he was followed by one of the other inhabitants. Those watchers tried to stay unobtrusive, but the whole number of inhabitants was simply too small to allow such a thing to happen.

"We should try to follow one of those food-bearers."

Someone dragging around a basket full of food wasn't unusual. Someone doing the same while glancing around every step and leaving the main house three times a day was a different thing. So far, they had only been able to ascertain that there was a group of presumably four to eight members living somewhere outside the camp. The food-bearer was leaving in the direction where the Normandy had noticed something inside a cave. Was there really a ship hiding with an on-board crew? But why and who?

"Do you think you can distract our fans long enough for me to slip out of the camp?" Kaidan asked.

"Have no doubt," Geralt responded, his smile a little unsettling.

.

The distraction had something to do with music, a bottle of vine and a skimpy looking outfit. Kaidan wasn't waiting to see the events unfold, his fantasy was developed well enough and he could imagine what Geralt had planned. As he slipped out of the main house, he could still hear Geralt intonating some drinking song and the giggles of "his" girls. Careful to stay in the shadows, he followed the inhabitant who was carrying another food basket. He had to avoid a couple of sensors, nothing dramatic and all of them only meant to alarm. There were no weapons linked to them, presumably to avoid unnecessary victims with most of the biotics being civilians without any real technical expertise. Kaidan knew that he was a novelty, a unicum trained in both the biotic arts and technical warfare.

"What the hell…"

Yes, there was a cave in the mountain, a fucking big cave actually. And there was a ship, just as the Normandy's sensors had told them. It was a small but fully space-serviceable ship, a kind of yacht meant for a crew of no more than a handful and an equal number of high-class passengers. Certainly not the kind of ship Kaidan would have expected finding here. The entrance to the cave was barely wide enough to let the ship pass and the whole place certainly wasn't meant to accommodate it. So, why were they hiding it here and from whom?

A couple of minutes later the food-bearer returned and left the cave again. Kaidan waited until everything was silent again and sneaked to the door. It was child's play to circumvent the locking mechanism and to force the camera into a never-ending loop that hid Kaidan's entering the ship. Sneaking around on the ship proved more difficult and he had to use the air vents as the small size didn't allow him to circumvent the guards. There were four of them in addition to a pilot and a radio operator. Far more of interest to him were the prisoners however: the captain of the ship, a secretary of the ship's owner and last but not least the ship owner himself: Chairman Martin Burns.

Kaidan suppressed an angry hiss. This was bad, really bad. He knew Burns. Every biotic knew his face, at least every human L2. He was the head of the Alliance Parliamentary Subcommittee, responsible for human biotics. There had been a couple of public discussions in the past months regarding L2s and how to compensate them for their plight, a direct consequence of their treatment and the L2 implants. So far, the committee had rejected any idea of payment, angering many biotics – Major Kyle apparently being one of them. Was this the reason why those other investigators vanished without any traces? Had they discovered Burns and tried to free him?

For now, Kaidan knew enough. He had to return to the base and consult Geralt. Their mission got far more complicated.

.

"So, you assume they want to blackmail his office into granting some kind of reimbursement to human L2s?"

"Something like that."

"Then why didn't we know about it? Shouldn't Anderson have told us?"

"Perhaps they haven't started the blackmail yet. Perhaps they are in disagreement about how to progress. Or Anderson simply didn't know himself. Wouldn't be the first time, important news became entangled in the machinery of bureaucracy."

"Okay, sounds plausible." Geralt thought about it for a while. "So, blackmail. Doesn't sound so bad."

"Huh?" Kaidan stared at him in shock.

Geralt rolled his eyes. "I mean, think about it. You told me yourself how bad L2s were treated around here. I think they deserve something."

"Yes, but not this way. Abduction and extortion are crimes. You can't right a wrong with another crime."

"Why not," Geralt shrugged. "Happens all the time. How many revolutions have been successful with sitting around on your arse? How often is a criminal able to hide behind laws or wealth? Sometimes the best way to bring justice is two feet of steel straight through the chest."

Kaidan was gaping like a fish. He shouldn't be surprised, in the end. Geralt had been quite open with stories about his former life. How did he call his profession? Problem-solver. And he wasn't wrong, not completely. There were cases where justice was denied because the culprit was a member of the high society. Often the Alliance justice system worked, but not always. Still, this felt wrong. "He killed the other investigators, I'm sure of it now. He'll try to kill us as well if he finds out about my little scouting spree. And then there is the simple question: even if he went through with the blackmail, what happens next? The whole community will be in danger."

Geralt sighed deeply and nodded. "It hurts to admit but you're right. What shall we do?"

"I have a plan."

"And now I'm terrified," Geralt half-joked.

.

Even in a building without windows, with no sun visible to the inhabitants, a certain cycle of night-and-day becomes a habit over time. Biotics were still human, and human behaved like sheeple. They liked to eat together, to work together and used the same hours for sleeping. At least, most of them. It was easy for Kaidan and Geralt to sneak through the base on the next "night". They had different destinations in mind but would meet at a later time. Hopefully, Wrex would miss the whole event. Involving him meant that a fight erupted, and fighting meant death, as the biotics would hardly allow Geralt and Kaidan to go through with their plan without resorting to violence.

In the end, Kaidan had the easier part. He had done the sneaking and entering once already, and the second time was even simpler. Kaidan slipped onto the ship and found only one guard awake, and not especially so. Disarming the alarm system, stunning the guard with an electro shock from his omni tool, binding him and freeing the captive. The most difficult part in the whole activity was to convince Burns that Kaidan was a friend and he had to follow him silently. On their way back, Kaidan glanced at Burns a couple of times, thinking about how nothing would change for L2s after Burn's return to civilisation. They still wouldn't get any reimbursement. Perhaps he should talk to him, convince him otherwise. He had to try it at least.

.

Geralt's path was far longer and more difficult. More than once he had to hide in the shadows, wait for some guard or night owl to pass without noticing him. He could hardly leave behind a string of knocked out biotics on his way to Kyle's chamber. His job was to abduct the leader of the community, extract him without any bloodshed. At least, the path to freedom would be quite easy afterwards. Geralt shuddered at the thought of shouldering an unconscious Major Kyle and having to carry him around the base. But, as he knew from his first visit, Kyle had one of the few rooms with a window. Apparently, he liked to wake up to the first rays of the morning sun. The window certainly wasn't meant to get opened, but a little Aard would solve the problem. Now, he had only to reach the room without raising the alarm.

He had been lucky so far; the chamber was nearly in sight and nobody had noticed him – or Kaidan. His luck ended as he rounded the next corner. Two guards were sitting near the entrance to Kyle's chamber. They hadn't predicted this kind of security. Had Kyle changed the sentries because of their presence? Kyle was a fanatic and quite creepy, but he wasn't stupid. Certainly, he had at least pondered the possibility of them working for Alliance Security. Geralt suppressed a sigh. He had to knock them out without raising the alarm. If he attacked them openly, the sounds of battle could reach the ears of others. Or perhaps there was a panic button somewhere. Even he knew about those. Dr Michel had one, not that it had helped her in any way the last time she got attacked.

" _Fuck_ ," Geralt cursed without making a sound. He hated this, hated using his signs like this. Axii was ideal for taking out a fighter or two if going against a group of opponents. Geralt used it quite often that way. This time he had to use it in a different way, a way he despised because in his eyes it was like mind-rape. This was one of the reasons why he didn't use Axii to force Kyle to accompany him peacefully. The other being more practical: he wasn't certain if Kyle would succumb to his magic for long enough. With a last shuddering sigh Geralt left his cranny and stepped into the corridor.

 _Ten steps_.

One of the guards looked up.

 _Nine steps_.

He pushed the other one awake.

 _Eight steps_.

"What are you…"

 _Seven steps_. Geralt threw his Axii against the both of them: "Friends."

Both guards struggled for a split second before they succumbed to his magic and relaxed. Geralt felt unclean for doing this. But it was the best way to solve this without bloodshed. "Knock him out!" He ordered the right one and the guard complied without hesitation. Still no alarm. Time to confront Major Kyle.

"Open the door!"

.

"Everything alright?" Kaidan asked, concern in his voice.

"No, far from it," Geralt shook his head. He pulled a vial from his coat. It was meant to be used as a component for a potion, in case he needed to craft one on the fly. But in the end, it was pure alcohol and he craved for this kind of cure right now. Entering Kyle's chamber had been easy, knocking him out not so. He had been wide awake, even expecting him from the look of it. Geralt had been able to dodge the first attack, but not the guard accompanying him. It had been Kyle who killed the guard, but Geralt still felt like his murderer. Again, he had blood on his hands. This time it was the blood of an innocent. Why didn't he knock the guard out after he opened the door? Why didn't he order him to stay outdoors? Why…?

"Kyle is sedated and Burns is watching him," Wrex announced. He was still very unhappy about the peaceful solution, and only kept his mouth shut because even a Krogan was able to realize that Geralt wasn't in the mood for a temper tantrum on his side. Kaidan nodded curtly. He had been speaking with Burns about the L2s, intended to continue the conversation on their way back to the Citadel. Hopefully it would be enough.

"Burns told me that we were right. The investigators had no idea of his abduction until their arrival. They didn't even discover his yacht. Kyle's men killed him simply out of fear, and to prevent them from taking Kyle away. We saved many lives today, Geralt."

"But not all," was the dark answer. After that, Geralt stayed silent for the rest of the voyage.

.

 _ **A/N**_

 _Next chapter: Feros!_


	4. Chapter 4 All roads lead to Feros

**All roads lead to Feros**

.

 _ **Citadel**_

.

They had arrived on the Citadel some hours ago. Chairman Martin Burns had instantly left the Normandy and would return to his office after a longer convalescence. While the biotics on Centaury had treated him fairly well – there had been no hunger or torture – the emotional stress to him had certainly been a serious one. Not knowing what would happen, if his captors really tried to blackmail Earth's government – and how successful they would be – or if they simply killed him off to cut all ties had certainly been a nerve-racking period of time. Now he was safe again.

Father Kyle on the other hand had a longer and serious trial ahead. The charges were, among others, abduction of an official, piracy and two cases of murder. While he hadn't killed those investigators himself, Kyle had been adamant in taking responsibility for all those crimes. The members of his community stayed free for now. After hearing the report from Kaidan and Geralt, Captain Anderson had voted for being lenient towards them. They were on probation and had to accept a liaison officer for the foreseeable future. Burns had promised to help them and soon. Kaidan, as it seemed, had really been able to get through with his arguments. Those L2 deserved help, both financial and medical wise. Hopefully the administration would allow Burns to keep his promises. Kaidan intended to keep an eye on the matter.

The situation with Burns and Kyle solved so far, Captain Anderson was more than content with the peaceful solution of something that could have easily turned into a bloody mess with dozens of dead. The loaned shuttle got returned to the Alliance Navy and Garrus had teary eyes as the second Mako was delivered to the Normandy. But perhaps that had more to do with the Kassa Mk III autocannons Shepard had been able to put his hands on. They were far more accurate than the old Mako cannons and they had a 20% longer range to add. Now they only had to do something about the chassis to allow them to survive even Shepard's driving skills.

With the most urgent matters handled, the crew had just prepared for a bit off-ship time for stress relief and perhaps to visit a friend or two, as they got a gathering call from Shepard. He sounded quite serious and stressed, prompting his team members to gather in no time. "I got a message from Admiral Kahoku. He's got a lead on those bastards that killed his men." _That's a good thing, isn't it?_ Geralt mused. "Apparently, the Shadow Broker was helpful in the end. He gave the Admiral a promising lead. According to this information, the organization responsible for that massacre has a research facility on Binthu."

"Binthu, second planet of the Yangtze System, Voyager Cluster," Kaidan stated looking up from his Omnitool. "Carbon dioxide atmosphere, large amount of toxic chlorine and sulphur dioxide; has no native ecology. Gravity 0.94g, surface temperature 94 °C, planet has one natural satellite. No current colony – as far as we know."

"Let me guess: he departed immediately and without backup," Ashley crowed. She knew the Admiral's reputation for being slightly reckless, especially in situations regarding the welfare of the men under his command.

"Right in one," Shepard confirmed.

"Do we know where he is right now?" Tali asked. Taking risks for your people was something she understood all too well. Someone luring Quarians into a deadly trap, especially for some supposed scientific reason, would enrage her without bounds as well.

Shepard shook his head. "He's keeping radio silence. We only know he left the Citadel four days ago on board of a small civil shuttle with only a crew of four."

"What are we waiting for … Sir?" Ashley calmly asked, her eyes pleading Shepard to play the hero again.

"So far we have no lead onto Saren, Benezia or the Geth. As soon as that changes, the mission has precedence." Shepard looked around and got agreeing nods from his team members, some of them more stressed than the others. "But until then we'll do our best to save his hide. All hands get ready. We leave the Citadel in one hour."

.

 _ **Yangtze System – nearing Binthu**_

.

"Nearing Binthu," Joker announced.

"Stealth system active and working 100%," Navigator Pressly added. "No ships in the orbit, but we get energy signals from the abandoned Alliance station."

"According to Alliance Command there shouldn't be anybody on Binthu anymore," Kaidan mused loudly. "Apparently, the maintenance of the station was too expensive and the planet had nothing of interest to offer."

"Has the station been sold or rented to someone?"

"Not that we know of, Commander."

"Intensity of the signals? Any guess how many people we're speaking about? "

"The station has space for a crew of around twenty to thirty, and it seems to be in full use. There are two shuttles on the landing platform, none of them belonging to Admiral Kahoku.

"Pressly? I need a landing spot out of the station's sensor range."

"On it."

"Team Alpha and Bravo, ready your equipment. Chief Bathia? You and your men accompany us."

"Copy that!"

.

 _ **Surface of Binthu**_

.

"Only a small number of sensors around the station, none of them more than basic instruments," Tali announced.

"They keep it cheap," Garrus commented. "The atmosphere should be poison for fragile instruments as well."

The pair of Makos was hiding two klicks away from the station behind a ridge of ugly looking hills. Tali and Garrus had been working on them nonstop on their way from the Citadel. Both had better sensor arrays to support their operators work and offered a – very crowded – space for an additional two Marines each. Especially Mako Alpha, with not only a standard crew of four but one of them being a Krogan, had barely enough room left for some breathing air.

"Any defence systems?"

"The station only had a single anti-air/spacecraft rocket launcher for its defence. But I see a pair of heavy machine gun turrets covering the entrance. I could try to take them out from a distance," Garrus offered. "They're of a cheap kind as well without any noteworthy shields. With a bit of luck the toxins in the air weakened the armour further."

"We'll try that," Shepard decided. "Team Beta, get into position. Fire when Team Alpha attacks. We keep to the left not to obscure your LoS. After my team entered the station, your job is to cover the entrance and secure the shuttles."

"Roger that." Team Beta – that was Kaidan leading Ashley, Garrus and two of the Marines. They constituted the support team, not that Ashley liked the idea one bit. Liara had begged Shepard to allow her to accompany the team, but he needed her on board to further examine everything they knew about the Geth, Saren and especially her mother. That was at least the official reasoning. Liara didn't believe it one second.

"In position," Kaidan announced a few minutes later. Garrus and Ash were the best shots of his team, each of them getting the support of one of the marines. _Notice to myself: we need stronger long range rifles and armour piercing mods_.

"Team Alpha, get ready – attack."

.

"Cerberus," Shepard growled. "Those fucking bosh'tet are Cerberus lackeys." He really loved that Quarian swearword. It expressed all the right things in one word. And it sounded nice as well. Like French, Quarian was a good language for swearing.

Team Alpha had entered the station after the destruction of the MG turrets. One of them had conked out under the suppression fire of Kaidan's team. The other proved sturdier, at least until Wrex walked forward to take the fire, allowing Geralt to sneak up and burn the turret to hell and back. Immediately after entering the station, they were confronted with a couple of LOKI Mechs and a pair of sentries – human sentries with combat armour bearing the well-known and hated Cerberus-C. Tali took care of the Mechs, while Wrex shot the sentries apart, the pair unblinkingly expecting the gargantuan shotgun spreading death. Being Axii-stunned certainly had to do with that death wish.

"Team Beta, status?"

"Ash is approaching the shuttles, meeting only weak resistance. I'm covering the station entrance with the Mako."

"Have Garrus incapacitate but not destroy the AA turret. I want the Normandy here as soon as possible. With the shuttles taking care of, follow me with your team."

"Copy that!"

Shepard looked up just in time to get Tali's ready signal. She had been working on a heavy bulkhead separating this part of the station from the next.

"No, don't!" Geralt suddenly screamed. It was too late. The bulkhead opened and Tali felt herself pushed away.

 _QUEN!_ Geralt thought and a bubble of pure biotic power erupted around the Witcher, filling the space where the bulkhead had been a second before. Something hit the bubble and recoiled.

"Wrex, a little help." The bubble burst asunder under the onslaught of a dozen … bodies. Shepard had no idea what exactly they were. They looked humanoid but barely. They were similar to … "husks", he whispered. They weren't actually husks but similar enough, both in appearance and demeanour – aggressive and without a hint of self-preservation.

"IGNI!" He screamed the word, the shout helping him to concentrate on intensifying the effect. A firestorm engulfed the first group of them, burning at least five of them to ashes. But there were too many. They overwhelmed Geralt and pushed forward. An _YRDEN_ erupted from Geralt's hand, slowing down the onslaught of those creatures. A loud thunder announced Wrex arrival and his shotgun blasted two of them apart. Shepard, Tali and the pair of Marines joined in, mowing them down like personified Grim Reapers. Geralt, unable to draw his sword and with the chance of another Igni hitting him as well, pulled free by pushing the trio of husks away with the might of Aard. Without hesitation, he rolled to the right and supported his comrades with a stream of fire, knocking down a single enemy here and there that threated to charge one of them. It was a bloody mess, and Shepard and his team members gagged at the sight and stench of more than three dozen of dozen creatures, shot into shreds and burned crisply. Chief Bathia certainly looked a little green around the nose and the stomach of the other marine had to be quite empty now.

"That was close," Bathia commented. _Too close_.

"That was fun," Wrex laughed. Shepard rolled his eyes. _Krogans_.

"We pull back and wait for Team Beta's arrival. This was cannon-fodder only. I expect stronger resistance further inside." With Wrex grumbling and the rest of the team looking relieved, they pulled back to a better defendable position.

 _Hopefully it won't be too late for Kahoku_ , Shepard thought _. And I want some answers and good ones from those bastards_.

.

In Wrex' words: _it had been a nice fight, could have lasted a bit longer_.

There had been around fifteen more guards and twice the number of Loki Mechs and smaller drones fighting them. A single YMIR had been hacked by Tali and a second wave of those husks was no real danger with them prepared and their numbers doubled. The only dangerous situation arrived at the end. As expected, they had tried to blackmail Shepard with the life of Kahoku. As expected – meaning, that Shepard had given according orders in advance. Kaidan, without waiting for an order, pulled Kahoku away from his guard and into safety. Geralt and Wrex put themselves and their shields between their opponents and the rest of the team, while Garrus and Ash started to take potshots. With only a handful of scientists alive, the rest surrendered. Not that Shepard was in any mood of offering mercy. But he still needed answers. And answers he would get – this way or another.

.

"Thorian Creepers, that's how they call them."

"Thorian?" Liara wondered. "That's the name of a race mentioned by the Prothean. Sadly, there weren't many references as far as I remember. We don't even know their home world or how they looked, only that they were a race of long-living creatures with a knack for biochemistry."

"Something at least," Shepard gracefully thanked her. "Apparently, these Creepers haven't been humanoids before their creations like the husks we met on Eden Prime, but are plant-like in nature and only created in the style of real persons. Somehow they used human DNA to create them."

"What for?" Kaidan asked. "They don't appear to be of much use as fighters."

"Servants," Shepard responded, "a relentless working force, needing only a modicum of nutrients and not asking for money or vacation."

"And where did they get those labour union nightmares?"

"Feros. Our next stop is Feros."

.

"Bon voyage, Admiral."

While Admiral Kahoku's men had luckily survived, his shuttle had not. He would use one of the Cerberus shuttles for his return to the Citadel, taking care of the five prisoners as well.

"Thank you, for everything." Admiral Kahoku was really grateful and not only for saving his life. With this station eradicated, he got one step closer to avenging his men. "Alliance Navy will confiscate the shuttles. I'll assure that you'll get the prize money. Even a Spectre needs a bit of money here and there."

"Thanks," Shepard knew Kahoku was right. Both Alliance and Council had been thrifty so far, miserly even. He had no money for a piece of extra equipment or a bit of bribery now and then. Tali and Ash had already plundered the base, stored away dozens of weapons, Mech parts and even the hacked Ymir. Ash was still perusing a couple of crates with weapon and shield mods, hoping to find some upgrade to their old equipment. Still, a bit of prize money wouldn't hurt. And he appreciated the gesture. Not all Alliance Admirals belonged to his circle of supporters.

"I expect a full report after your stay on Feros."

Shepard simply nodded. Kahoku had the right to ask for that, at least in his mind.

"We'll give them hell."

"I expected nothing less from you."

.

 _ **On their way to Feros**_

.

"There are only a small number of colonies on Feros, all of them belonging to the ExoGeni Corporation." Kaidan was doing his regular job again, briefing the team about their destination. Wrex was sleeping, more or less, his broad mouth a bit open. At least, he wasn't snoring. Garrus had enough experience with such meetings to at least appear attentive. The rest of the team were a bit more interested, with Liara being the most excited one.

"Two thirds of the planet is blanketed with Prothean Ruins," she interjected, babbling happily. Geralt found her youthful enthusiasm quite cute. _Hopefully, she'll never change in that regard_. "It's one of the biggest ruins in the known space. Regretfully, most of them are in shambles, hampering the exploration."

"Main colony is called Zhu's hope, meaning that around 50 percent of the 300 colonists are living there. Leader of Zhu's Hope is one Fai Dan, human, age 46, archaeologist. Overall leader of all ExoGeni operations is Ethan Jeong, working at the ExoGeni HQ twenty miles east of Zhu's Hope."

"Our lead from Binthu is about a Salarian merchant named Ledra and her ship, the Borealis. She is currently on Feros and according to the intel we found, she was the one who transported the Thorian Creepers to Binthu," Shepard continued.

"And theses Creepers are they from Feros as well? Do we have to expect to meet more of them on the surface?"

"There have been rumours about Thorians living on Feros in the past," Liara responded. She had used the past days to get as much Intel about the Thorians as possible. It had been less than expected. She even had the impression that someone had tried to suppress any information about that stunning kind of beings getting public. "I've found a couple of files about one Salarian researcher claiming that he found a living one even a few years ago. But his claims were rejected as the words of a madman. His "proof" was a couple of nearly unrecognizable pictures and the Salarian himself is now in psychiatric treatment in Salarian space."

"The influence of that Thorian perhaps?"

"Possible at least," Liara nodded.

"So, we're going to Feros, try to get this Ledra before she leaves the planet again, all the time expecting for a horde of creepers to show up or an alien nobody knows how it looks or what it is able to do," Ash summarized, not sounding all that delighted. Geralt understood where she was coming from. Those creepers on Binthu had been … yeah, creepy.

"Generally speaking, you would be right. However, there is a not so little complication we have to handle as well," Shepard didn't look happy.

"Isn't there always," Ash snorted.

Shepard rolled his eyes but didn't reproach her for her antics. "One hour ago, I got a message from Admiral Hacket." This got him the attention of the whole team. Even Wrex shifted in his seat and fully opened his eyes. Hacket usually meant big news –big bad news. "Alliance Navy received a distress call from Zhu's Hope. There has been an attack, both on the colony and the ExoGeni HQ."

"Pirates?"

"Geth!"

.

 _ **Feros Orbit**_

.

"ExoGeni wants us to advance towards their HQ as soon as possible. Apparently, they had to abandon it and fear for their precious research data and scientists – in that order. They took shelter in a bunker two miles away from the HQ. The place is crawling with Geth, as far as we know. At least they only have a couple of smaller ships, nothing able to really threaten the Normandy. One of them is hiding in a small hangar near Zhu's Hope, two more are clinging to the Protean tower building that houses the ExoGeni HQ, reason unknown, but there is a large amount of energy they transfer into the building. Some kind of energy field disturbs our scanners.

"A smaller force has been attacking Zhu's Hope. Their security detachment has been able to repel them so far but lost most of their men in the fights. The _Borealis_ is still on the ground by the way. It got wrecked by the Geth in one of the earlier attacks, and now the surviving colonists are taking shelter within the ship. They are waiting for our arrival. We'll land on one of the platforms at the small Harbour, advance towards Zhu's Hope and eradicate the Geth force threatening the settlement. After that, we'll leave a team of technicians and medics in the colony with a couple of guards while the rest advances towards the HQ in the Makos." Shepard looked around. "Questions?"

"Any chance the Navy sends reinforcements in time?" Ash already guessed the answer but had to ask.

"They'll arrive in 12 to 24 hours; too late to be of any direct help for us, but soon enough to take care of the colony afterwards."

"Can't we just destroy those ships with the Normandy? At least the pair at the HQ?"

"Risk is too great that we destroy the HQ as well. ExoGeni would have a fit if we try that."

"Damned paper pushers."

"If that's all, now to the teams: I had to switch the composition a little. Team Alpha is with me: Wrex, Garrus, Geralt and Kaidan. As soon as the Geth around Zhu's Hope got crushed, we advance towards the HQ. Ash is leading team Beta with Tali and Liara." Liara looked up, happy that she got included this time. "Your job is to babysit the colonists and take care of everything they need. Apparently, they have some problems with energy and water, and certainly they don't lack in injured after the fights. You know the best among us how to handle colonists, Ash. You get Chief Bathia and her squad. Corporal Pallio," he addressed the newest NCO on-board. "You'll follow us with your team to Zhu's Hope. From there you'll take the second Mako. Dr Chakwas, Lt Adams? He'll need a medic and a technician with a good head on their shoulders." Both nodded. They would take care of that. "Your job is to protect the ExoGeni personal after we found them. Team Alpha will continue to the HQ itself from there. Hopefully, this Ethan Jeong has some usable Intel about the situation on-site."

They spoke for a while about some details and backup plans, before it was time to get ready. "Don't delude yourself. This will be a difficult job, mostly because of the civilians. I want to destroy those Geth, but the civilians' safety takes top priority. And Ash? I want this Ledra, alive. I have some questions that need answers. Tali? I want you to get me copies from her board computer files. If she complains, shoot her in the foot, but I need Intel."

"Got it, boss."

.

 _ **Zhu's Hope**_

.

For once, the plan lasted longer than until the first enemy contact. There had only been around two dozen Geth attacking Zhu's Hope, with the corridors too narrow for any of those bigger badass variants. The team met mostly Hoppers and Troopers with a pair of Hunters being the biggest challenge. Luckily, they hadn't learned so far that electronic stealth didn't stop Geralt from detecting them with his Witcher senses. Wrex was actually annoyed afterwards about the lack of real fighting, but Shepard promised him more of that later. Geralt had no doubt about the truth of that statement.

As expected, there was much to do for Tali and Liara and their team of technicians and medics. Neither energy nor water supply was working and the security team and settlers had more than a dozen seriously injured among them. The reasoning behind the Geth attack was still unclear. There had been no discernible General of the attack, no Krogan like on Therum and certainly no ex-Spectre. Perhaps it really had only been a distraction to occupy the settlers and keep them from assisting the people at the HQ, as if their leader even had the initiative to start such an action.

Geralt had only stayed at Zhu's Hope for a short amount of time, but it had already been enough to feel the urge to get away from them as fast as possible. While Miss Doyle and Miss O'Connell, the technicians taking care of the water and energy problems, had been cordial and friendly enough, the same couldn't be said about the bulk of the settlers. Most of them behaved … weird, like they didn't want the help in the first place. They had no wish to talk with the team, directing them towards their leader Fai Den, this one being not much more helpful. At least, he only seemed a bit confused and shocked by the turn of events, obviously overwhelmed by the fighting on a normally peaceful backwater world. Chief Martinez, leader of the small security detachment, was much worse. Instead of being happy about the reinforcement and the medical help, she only had harsh words for Commander Shepard, ridiculing him for being too late and similar nonsense.

 _Luckily for her, Shepard is too patient sometimes_ , Geralt mused. _I would have kicked her ass after such behaviour towards me_.

At least, everything had gone well with the Borealis. Ledra was in chains now and Tali investigating the computer before anyone had a chance to mess with the data. The Quarian even got a marine as her personal bodyguard should some crewmember try anything stupid, not that she appreciated Bathia's gesture. _I'll have to buy Nirali a drink next time we have shore leave_.

"Good luck, Ash," Shepard said his farewell, the relief about leaving this place clear on his face. "And be careful, something is wrong about this place."

"You as well, Commander."

.

 _ **On the road again**_

.

„Quand je bois du vin clairet." Geralt's singing voice was certainly not the best but certainly quite loud and happy.

"Ami tout tourne, tourne, tourne, tourne." He was grinning madly, completely ignoring the reactions of his team members. Kaidan seemed to understand most of the text, while Garrus at least got the meaning. A drinking song was a drinking song everywhere in the galaxy, it seemed.

"Aussi désormais je bois Anjou ou Arbois." From the second Mako Corporal Pallio started to accompany Geralt with more enthusiasm than text knowledge.

"Chantons et buvons, à ce flacon faisons la guerre." The melody was easy on the ears and even Shepard had no wish to stop Geralt from lifting the mood a little. The surroundings were sad enough with ruins everywhere and not a single plant.

"Chantons et buvons, les amis, buvons donc !" Geralt made a little break after the first strophe.

"It's called Tourdion," he explained without being asked. "An old song from France, Earth, about drinking and singing. I found it while looking up France in the extranet. I think my friends back home would have liked it." He looked lost in memories for a moment, sad memories.

"Why did you look up France?" Kaidan wondered. While they had to watch the surroundings for ambushes, the voyage had been mostly quite so far. Apparently, the Geth commander in charge of the attack had decided to leave only a couple of automatic defence turrets behind while concentrating his troops on the area around the HQ tower. The news from Zhu's Hope had been positive as well so far. Energy was working again and water supply was looking good as well. There had been no real attack anymore, only a small number of Geth strugglers around the water installation.

"I was searching for similarities with my home world. A few hundred years ago, France apparently was quite similar to Beauclair, the country where I had my vineyard. Even the names and culture was similar and some of the myths of the peasants. Most of all, they had the same language."

"What? That's impossible."

Geralt shrugged. "You would think so. Actually, after my arrival, in those few moments I was sober enough to think about it, I would have expected to have some difficulties with the language around here. I mean, I'm quite talented at learning new languages, but the start should have been bumpy."

"You shouldn't have understood a single word, even among other humans."

"Yes, exactly," Geralt nodded. "But it was quite different. My language was a little outdated and sounded weird to others, but somehow I was able to passably speak English, German and French and even a smattering of Norse. Somehow, the languages I had learned on my home world somehow translated to those languages. It was like magic."

"Please don't use the M-word, it gives me a headache." Geralt only grinned at Kaidan's complaint. He continued to ignore that Geralt's signs were something completely different to biotics.

"Enemy ahead!" Shepard's announcement stopped the small conversation, but both Geralt and Kaidan intended to continue it later. Geralt's language skills were only one more weirdness surrounding his arrival on this world.

.

While they wanted to reach the HQ fugitives as soon as possible, the opposition waiting for them, blocking the path to prevent any attempt of counter-attack or flight, was too stiff to openly battle them head-on. Shepard counted at least half a dozen turrets, two armatures, two Geth Prime and a dozen Troopers for support, some of them even hefting portable rocket launchers. And as if that wasn't bad enough, there was a blasted Colossus as well. For once he allowed Kaidan to pilot the Mako, while Shepard mounted the auto-cannon. The rest of the team stayed behind with the second Mako, digging in for a little ambush of their own. The plan was to attack the Geth and draw them out of their far too defensible position. The Primes would be the fastest pursuer, the Troopers not being far behind. Hopefully, they would be able to take them out before the Armatures and the Colossus caught up.

"Pallio, behind that ridge with the Mako. I only want to see the turret from here. Two Marines with the LMG over there, the medic and the tech in that small bunker we passed 80 yards down the road. If everything goes shit, I don't want to risk their lives necessarily. "

"Got it!"

Garrus was slightly impressed with Geralt's ability to prepare a well-planned ambush. Shepard was more a straight-ahead soldier type, but Geralt had obviously been in enough skirmishes – both as the ambusher and the one being ambushed – to know his stuff. He had no idea that a small part of Geralt was thinking along the same lines. This moment reminded him of the many ambushes he had fought with and against the Scoiatel, those elven warriors that had been a pain in the ass of more than one human general.

"Wrex, I want you over there. I know it's difficult to be patient, but I want you to stay low until one of the Primes has his back to you. According to Tali's instructions about Geth tactics, they'll attack in a broad frontline with the Primes on the flanks and a little ahead of the troopers. The left one is yours, Wrex, the right one will hopefully succumb to the Mako's new gun. Garrus…"

"I take a position up there and try to diminish the number of Troopers."

"Alright; and look out for hunters."

"And you?" Garrus wondered.

"I'll try to slow down the quadrupeds," was the ominous answer.

.

"Never," Shepard screamed at Geralt, "never again do something stupid and inane like that."

Kaidan nodded wisely to those words, while Garrus looked thoughtful and Wrex showed a mix of excitement and disappointment that he hadn't been part of the show. Despite them certainly expecting some kind of ambush, the Geth had followed Shepard, certain in the knowledge of their superior firepower. As hoped for, Wrex had been able to take out one of the Primes, with Garrus taking potshots at the Troopers and Pallio's Mako exchanging blows with the second Prime. In the end, the better position and the firepower of the new auto-cannon proved too strong for the Prime and he succumbed. The rest of the Troopers had only occupied them for a few more minutes, all the time the team waiting for the real danger to show up. Only when the sounds of serious gunfire reached their ears, did realization dawn that Geralt had no intention to allow the Quadrupeds to endanger his teammates.

Barely stopping long enough for Wrex and Garrus to climb into the Mako, Shepard raced towards the battle, only to find a place of wreckage, rolling fumes and burning scraps. Geralt had somehow used his Yrden signs not only to slow the trio of Quadrupeds down, but had also played with the fact that the Colossus was too strong to succumb to his signs as much as the smaller Armatures. Slowing down the Armatures, he waited for the Colossus to move onward, before he charged in. A Dimetrium grenade put out the left Armature's shield, and Geralt poured every last bit of his magic into an Igni attack to take out one of his opponents as fast as possible. Only then did the Colossus abort his advance towards Shepard's team and turned around to rescue his second smaller comrade – smaller only in the mind of a Colossus.

As the alarmed team arrived on the scene, they found Geralt running circles around the concrete blocks littering the field, leading the second Armature into an Yrden trap that took out his shield for a few precious seconds. Turning around, the Witcher dodged the next attack of the Colossus, its main weapon blasting a big hole into the ground where this annoying human bug had been a second before. Finding his way between the legs of the Colossus, Geralt charged the trapped Armature and started to cut it into handy pieces with his sword. It would have ended there and not well, with the Colossus recharging his weapon and Geralt too far in the open to avoid another attack. But luckily it had been that moment when Shepard, Wrex and Garrus opened fire. The Colossus didn't last long under that onslaught, but that didn't mean Shepard was happy about the risk Geralt had taken.

"It worked, did it not?" Geralt shrugged.

"It did," Garrus at least agreed.

 _In the end, you have to do the job. That's all that counts._

.

 _ **ExoGeni Evacuation Point**_

.

"Please rescue my daughter."

Obviously there was something about Geralt that screamed _professional shining knight_ to every damsel in distress in the galaxy. Kaidan Alenko had difficulties to suppress a grin while Corporal Pallio simply allowed the cackle to slip past his lips. It was simply too funny, despite the matter being sad in nature. They had barely arrived at the refugee camp before Mother Baynham approached Geralt, her motherly instincts telling her exactly who to ask for help.

"Don't you have anything to do? Polish your weapon or something?" Geralt growled. It didn't impress them in the slightest.

"Please," Juliana Baynham continued to plead. "My daughter is still out there, all alone and frightened. Here, this is a picture of hers." Now, this was mean. Baynham actually showed Geralt a picture of her daughter on her Omni tool, all in her proud glory with twinkling eyes and the broadest smile on the day she got her diploma at the university. It was like a ten year old showing off pictures of her lost puppy, pleading you with big innocent eyes to help her. "Lizbeth is 26 now. She only on Feros because of me and now with those Geth…"

Geralt stopped her rambling. He had enough experience with distraught family members to know exactly how to pose and speak to extrude the right amount of determination and self-assurance to trust his words. "We'll find her. We'll bring her back. Calm down and support Corporal Pallio while we others are away, searching for your daughter."

"Thank you, thank you," Geralt showed only a calm smile as the scientist walk away.

"The chance is high that she's dead already," Garrus calmly stated when the woman was out of hearing range. He was a soldier at heart and understood the necessity and inevitability of soldiers dying, even those under your own command. But even Turians had a strong parental connection with their children, and Garrus felt with the mother.

"I know, but I can't exactly tell her. I'm certain she knows it already but is still hoping for the best." Gerald sighed and looked around. Shepard had stopped his senseless discussion with that Ethan Jeong, the leader of the ExoGeni refugees only interested in protecting the awfully precious company secrets. Now, he was talking with Gavin Hossle, one of the ExoGeni computer specialists, about the HQ's safety measures they would meet later. Shepard hadn't even to threaten Hossle with a gun to get a security access card. Obviously, the man was smarter than his boss. At least, they now knew why the Geth were still there. Ultimately, the company's paranoia was to blame for this. Apparently, the Geth had problems to find the well-hidden data about all the research projects the scientists had been working on. So they erected some energy fields to protect them from any disturbances while they continued their search. Not that Shepard's team had the slightest idea about the nature of those projects themselves. The scientists, under Jeong's strict order, kept completely mum about it, something that mightily pissed off the commander.

"At least, it will be easy to find her if she's still alive," Geralt concluded. "I mean, hopefully she'll leave her hideout when Wrex starts using that monster he calls a shotgun; should be loud enough."

.

The following hours had been both exhausting and nerve-wracking. With Geth Hoppers and Hunters harassing them, every team member felt the dire urge to shoot at the slightest sound or motion. But they had to be careful in case they actually met that Baynham girl or another survivor. And they actually did – meet Baynham and rescue her. It had been after an especially vicious fight with a dozen Varren that had intruded the edges of the HQ in search of some easy prey. Lizbeth had been hiding in some pipe barely wide enough for the slim woman to slip into. When Shepard took a look into her pipe, he was greeted by the muzzle of her gun. Luckily for him, it was more of a toy and not something serious. After believing him that he wasn't a Geth and calming down a little, she had left her hiding place and started to speak. Her story had been quite unexpected and enough to enrage Shepard thoroughly.

"I hoped to have more time. I wanted to use the distraction, with everybody gone and most of the security down, to slip into the comm centre and contact System Alliance."

"What about?"

"The tests," Lizbeth Baynham wrung her hands. "They're wrong, simply wrong. Against everything I wanted to do with my knowledge. I wanted to help people, to cure them, not make them sick and control them."

"What do you mean by _controlling them_?" Slowly, it became clearer why Jeong had been so adamant about protecting the company's secrets.

"They're using the Thorian to control the settlers. It emits a special bland of plant spores, allowing him to influence humans and other races around him."

"Is that the reason why the settlers at Zhu's Hope are behaving so weird?" Geralt asked. "Most of them acted like they didn't know how to make their own decisions."

"Yes," Lizbeth nodded. "The spores suppress any free will if someone is under their control for a longer amount of time. They change the body as well, make them more endurable. They can work longer and need less sustenance."

"Perfect workers," Garrus cursed.

"Sounds like those Creepers." Geralt's eyes widened. "The Thorian Creepers, this Thorian creates them using someone's DNA – the settlers' DNA."

To his horror, Lizbeth confirmed his suspicion. "They are the result of another test. Now, they are a bit like a reference group. ExoGeni wants to know what gets the better result in the long run: Thorian Creepers or settlers influenced and controlled by the Thorian. "

"That's…" Kaidan hadn't a word for what he felt about it.

"I really wanted to stop it, but I wasn't allowed to speak about it, not even to my mother. I really tried to get help, please believe me." Geralt did and Shepard as well. He had no doubt that she had started her work with the best of intentions, only realizing the results as it was too late to back off. Obviously, ExoGeni wasn't an employer that allowed its peak scientists to quite on 14-days-notice, especially not, when those scientists constituted a dire risk for their reputation and economic success.

"We'll take care of that; and of Ethan Jeong as well." Shepard promised and not even for a second did Geralt doubt the truth of that statement or felt pity about Jeong's fate.

.

Shooting the Geth. Closing the fricking hangar doors to cut of the tentacle-like arms they used to cling to the tower. Shoot more Geth. Watch the Geth ships crash onto the ground with their anchors failing them. Shot some Krogans for a change. Geralt wondered not for the first time where Saren got those Krogans in the first place.

"Tank-bred," was Wrex simple explanation.

"What's a tank-bred?" Geralt asked, not for the first time noticing how many things were still alien to him, him the foreigner in this world.

"You mean they're clones?" Shepard pressed the matter. Wrex nodded. For Geralt's sake, Shepard explained: "clones means, they used the DNA of one or more Krogans to breed more of them. Those Krogans never had a mother, and each of them looks the same."

"I already noticed that they have the same face markings," Geralt admitted. "They even smell the same."

"They do?" Kaidan blinked. This he hadn't noticed.

"He's right," Wrex growled. "They used Weyrloc DNA but they aren't real Weyrlocs."

"I assume Weyrloc is a clan on Tuchanka?"

"Yes," Wrex nodded gravely. "They're known for backstabbing and always taking the easy route to success. Weak minds, weak warriors," he growled.

"Good for us," Geralt shrugged.

"What?" Wrex hissed.

Geralt was unimpressed. "Think about it: how much more difficult would the fight be with Urdnot DNA being used."

Wrex grinned. It wasn't a nice sight: "Would be more interesting at least."

.

Power up security and save the data Lizbeth Baynham showed us. Shoot some more Geth while imagining them to be the ExoGeni executive board. It was a soul-cleaning experience to allow their destructive streak to show up for a while. The VI of the HQ was very helpful thanks to the security card they got from Hossle. Geralt liked Vis, and especially he liked AVINA, the tourist Vi on the Citadel. While others complained about her being boring, Geralt saw another side of her. She was helpful and obviously used to less than concrete enquiries. Even with Geralt in a drunken stupor, she always tried to assist him and never scolded him. She never tried to get him to reduce his alcohol consume like Dr Michel did and even had a good tip for a new bar or some happy hour offer.

On their return to the refugee camp, Geralt's dazzling smile allowed them to take out the few remaining ExoGeni guards without a fight. Alright, it was the dazzling Axii sign but the accompanying smile certainly helped, even with the smile mostly being a sharp-like grin as Kaidan beat Shepard in power-punching Jeong. Pity, actually, as Shepard's punch certainly would have hurt more. For a moment Geralt mused about kicking the bastard into the ribs or something more private, but decided against it. He wouldn't feel it, seriously diminishing the fun in in. Shepard on the other hand felt impotent fury, thinking about the long-term repercussions. He had no doubt that the ExoGeni Administration would sacrifice Jeong without losing any sleep about it. The administrator would earn himself a prison sentence, but the administration would stay free. At most, they would have to pay a mid-level fine, certainly nothing that would keep them back from repeating this shit next time they saw an opportunity to earn some serious money.

"Thank you," Juliana Baynham mouthed towards the team as she hugged her daughter, treating her like a lost child and not a fully-grown woman that was mature enough to take responsibility for her former errors. And for now, Lizbeth allowed her mother to treat her as such. She was too happy not only to be alive and safe, but also knowing that Shepard would deliver the ugly news about the Thorian tests to System Alliance. Now, it was time to leave. Luckily, the other scientists obeyed Juliana and Lizbeth Baynham as the women organized the voyage to Zhu's Hope under the guard of Corporal Pallio's team, especially as Shepard wasn't in the mood for any more whining and complaining, not with the news he got from Navigator Pressly. Only now, with the Geth energy fields shot down, had he been able to reach Commander Shepard and his team.

"The settlers of Zhu's Hope," he told the others with a very serious face. "They are attacking the Normandy."

.

Tali was working in the Borealis, quite content with her success so far. An hour more, two at most, and she should have everything to prove that Captain Ledra had been the one delivering the Thorian Creepers to Binthu. There were more than enough files about Cerberus' part as well and now she only needed the name of the co-operator on Feros.

"There is trouble brewing at the harbour," the marine accompanying her told Tali.

The Quarian looked up and needed some seconds to really understand the statement. "Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

The marine shrugged. "Apparently, the settlers aren't happy about our presence. Now they gather at the harbour, chanting some nonsense about us not having a right to hinder them in their work."

"Stupid bosh'tet," Tali growled. "We're here to help them. Have they already forgotten they would have neither energy nor water without us?"

"Short memory," the marine grinned. Tali liked him. He had been quiet, without nervously shuffling his feet the whole time or pestering her with senseless babbling. Instead he had been there, silently like a statue.

"And now?"

"Navigator Pressly asks when we'll return to the Normandy."

Tali sighed and glanced at her terminal. "I'll need another hour at least. But you could return. It's not like I would be especially helpful around annoying settlers." She actually had the feeling her presence would only aggravate the situation. While the crew of the Normandy appreciated her work and even Ash started to accept her, many others did not. Many humans had started to look down on Quarians, calling them vagrants and suit rats like the rest of the Galaxy. Their favourite slight was Gypsies now, the word certainly not meant as an endearment.

"Chief Bathia told me to stay with you."

Tali patted the shotgun on her back. "I'm fully able to take care of me on my own."

"I never doubted that," he backpedalled. "You're sure?"

"Yes, go, leave me to my work." Tali grinned and nodded towards the door. "Go!"

He obeyed, not his best decision today.

.

"Suit rat," the technician swore under his breath.

 _She's stealing your data_ , the voice whispered.

He nodded. The technician watched the Quarian for a moment. The ship's security system allowed him to have a good look. He saw how the Quarian accessed the computer files, searched them and downloaded quite a number of files. "She said she's looking for proof of the captain's crimes."

 _It's a lie_ , the voice whispered and he believed it, wanted to believe it. _She's jealous of everything humanity achieved so far. She knows her people can't do the same, so she steals your work._

"But what if she's right? About the captain."

 _She's not_ , the voice vehemently denied _. If there is anything on her terminal damning to your captain, it's only because she falsified the proof. It would be easier for her to hide her theft if the captain is imprisoned_.

"You're right." Naturally the voice was. The technician had no doubt, not anymore.

 _And what will you do? What are you willing to do to defend your captain and to protect what is yours?_

"I'll kill her," the technician growled and grabbed the grip of his pistol.

And the voice smiled.

.

" _We could try to take out the settlers with these grenades."_

The plan sounded easy enough. In case the settler snapped under the Thorian's influence, Jeong's team had prepared a counter plan. Geralt felt sick. _Mess with their minds and prepare a weapon in case they fought back._ _Bastards!_ The main ingredient of that plan was a couple of boxes with stun grenades, specially developed to take out _Thorian humans –_ humans hit by Thorian spores. The implementation of that plan proved to be a lot more difficult. The settlers didn't really wait and held still. Instead, they armed themselves and did their best to kill Shepard's team. A few of the settlers, mostly technicians and the few remaining guards, had shields as well, making it even more difficult to take them out without killing them. The saddest moment had certainly been when Fai Dan first shot Martinez – the security chief threatening to fire a bomb that would kill a third of the settlers – and then himself, not without telling Shepard that the colonists only followed the Thorian's orders in attacking them and where to find the culprit: in an underground complex right below the Borealis.

After that, they were able to disarm the rest of the colonists and prepared for the confrontation with the Thorian. Corporal Pallio and Chief Bathia had been ordered to take care of the colonists. They got a dozen technicians and medics from the Normandy to help them with the task. Now, they only had to find a way to get under the Borealis without causing too much mayhem. After Fai Dan's tip they had realized that the position of the Borealis wreck was no coincidence. It was hiding the entrance to the Thorian's underground complex. There were a couple of derricks to put help them open the way, but they had to be careful. They needed technicians for that part, they needed Tali.

Shepard looked around. Only now did he notice that he hadn't seen the Quarian so far. _Weird!_ He would have expected to be there at their arrival, greeting Geralt and asking endless questions about the Geth and their energy field. But there had been none of that.

"Ash? Where is Tali? We'll need her to… Ash? What is it?" Shepard hesitated at the sight of Ash's unexpected reaction. Ash, at first relieved to see Shepard and his team return from the expedition, froze and turned deathly pale.

"Ash?" Geralt now asked as well, his gut clenching in fear. He had a really bad feeling. "Where is Tali?"

"I thought you knew?" Ash whispered.

"Knew what? Ash, spit it out."

"She was in the Borealis. The Marine protecting her … she send him away to help with the uproar. Geralt, she got attacked."

"Is she hurt?" It was immensely hard to suppress the urge to grab Ash's shoulders and shake her to make her answer faster.

"One of the techs shot her in the back. It's … it's serious, Geralt." Ash rubbed her hands, not daring to look Geralt in the eye.

"But Dr Chakwas," Geralt asked hopefully. "She'll take care of her, yes?" Karin Chakwas was a really good healer, nearly as good as Shani had been one century ago.

"She's in the med bay, yes," Ash confirmed. For a moment, Geralt felt hope, only crashing down even more with Ash's next words. "But, Geralt … Karin … Dr Chakwas … she doesn't know if Tali will make it."

.

 _ **A/N**_

 _Next chapter: the Thorian, more of Tali and a special Asari._

 _Dekuton mentioned that the second half of this chapter got too rushed. He was right about that. I just added another 1500 words to that part. Hopefully, it's better now._


End file.
